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THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  MISSOURI 


GRANT  MARSH 


The  Conquest  of  the 
Missouri 

Being  the  Story  of  the  Life  and  Exploits 
of  Captain  Grant  Marsh 


BY 

JOSEPH  MILLS  HANSON 


WITH  MAP  AND  36  ILLUSTRATIONS 


CHICAGO 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1909 


COFTRIQRT 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1909 

Published  October,  1909 


DONNELLEY  *  SONS  COMPANY 
CHICAGO 


Wo 
MY  MOTHER 


PREFACE 

IN  preparing  the  following  narrative  of  the  principal 
events  in  the  life  of  Captain  Grant  Marsh,  the  author 
has  naturally  been  furnished  by  the  latter  with  much 
the  larger  part  of  the  material  set  forth.  Captain  Marsh 
was  an  actor  in  events  of  great  historic  moment,  covering 
almost  the  entire  period  of  the  conquest  of  the  upper  Mis- 
souri River  Valley,  the  subjugation  of  the  Sioux  Indians 
and  the  opening  to  civilization  of  the  vast  territory  which 
they  had  occupied.  But  the  direct  observations  of  a  man 
in  his  position  were  generally  and  necessarily  limited  to 
his  immediate  surroundings,  and  the  recital  of  his  expe- 
riences alone  during  his  years  of  activity  in  the  Northwest 
would  give  to  the  reader  but  an  indistinct  impression  of 
the  conditions  prevailing  there  and  of  their  underlying 
causes.  Hence  it  has  been  deemed  best  to  amplify  the 
story  of  the  Captain's  adventures  with  as  much  general 
history  as  is  essential  to  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
period  and  of  the  part  which  he  played  in  it.  Such  a 
course  is  rendered  more  imperative  by  the  fact  that  many 
of  the  events  treated  have  never  received  more  than  pass- 
ing attention  from  historians,  and  remain  to-day  practi- 
cally unknown  save  to  those  who  participated  in  them. 
The  author  has  endeavored,  whenever  possible,  to  verify 


Preface 

Captain  Marsh's  recollections  of  events  possessing  any 
historical  significance,  by  reference  to  oflBcial  or  other 
reliable  documents,  and  very  rarely  has  the  Captain's 
memory  been  found  at  fault,  even  in  details.  In  cases 
where  documentary  evidence  was  unobtainable,  verifica- 
tion has  been  sought  from  other  sources,  chiefly  by  cor- 
respondence with  persons  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
facts,  either  through  historical  research  or  by  reason  of 
personal  experience.  Most  of  the  latter  to  whom  the 
author  has  applied  have  been  associated  with  Captain 
Marsh  at  one  time  or  another  during  his  years  on  the 
rivers  of  the  West.  The  correspondence  with  them  has 
been  undertaken  for  the  double  purpose  of  securing 
evidence  on  historical  facts,  and  of  obtaining  from  them 
their  personal  recollections  of  the  Captain.  All  of  them 
have  responded  most  generously  to  requests  for  informa- 
tion and  the  author's  thanks  are  particularly  due  to  those 
mentioned  below. 

The  late  Major-General  James  W.  Forsyth,  U.  S.  A., 
and  the  late  Brigadier- General  Samuel  B.  Holabird, 
U.  S.  A.,  both  of  whom  have  died  since  their  kind  assist- 
ance was  rendered. 

The  late  Mary  Louise  Dalton,  Librarian  of  the  Missouri 
Historical  Society,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  for  placing  the  collec- 
tions of  the  Society  at  the  author's  disposal,  and  for  critical 
reading  of  his  entire  manuscript. 

Miss  May  Simonds,  Reference  I^ibrarian  of  the  Mer- 
cantile Library,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  for  assistance  in  obtaining 
works  of  reference. 

viii 


Preface 

Mrs.  Laura  E.  Howey,  Secretary  and  Librarian  of  the 
Montana  State  Library,  Helena,  Mont.,  for  researches 
among  the  records  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana. 

Doctor  W.  J.  McGee,  Director  of  the  St.  Louis  Public 
Museum,  formerly  Ethnologist  in  Charge,  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  for  assistance  in  determining  the 
proper  spelling  and  use  of  Indian  names. 

Brigadier-General  Edward  S.  Godfrey,  U.  S.  A.,  Com- 
mandant of  the  Special  Service  School  of  Application  for 
Cavalry  and  Field  Artillery,  Fort  Riley,  Kansas,  for  pains- 
taking assistance  in  the  preparation  of  many  chapters. 

The  following  other  officers  and  non-commissioned 
officers  of  the  United  States  Army,  all  retired,  for  written 
communications  or  for  the  critical  reading  of  portions  of 
the  manuscript: 

Lieutenant-General  Nelson  A,  Miles,  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel and  Brevet  Brigadier- General  George  A.  Forsyth, 
Major  William  H.  H.  Crowell,  Major  Frederick  M.  H. 
Kendrick,  Major  Luther  R.  Hare,  Lieutenant  Charles 
Braden,  Sergeant  M.  C.  Caddie. 

The  following  steamboat  men,  for  communications  or 
for  the  loan  of  photographs : 

Horace  Bixby,  Alexander  Lamont,  Nicholas  Buesen, 
George  Foulk,  William  H.  Gould,  Grant  C.  Marsh. 

The  following  other  persons,  for  critical  reading  of 
portions  of  the  manuscript,  for  communications,  or  for 
the  loan  of  photographs: 

Colonel  William  F.  Cody,  James  M.  Sipes,  John  H. 
Fouch,  Major  Luther  S.  Kelly,  Walter  H.  Carr,  Major 

ix 


Preface 

Joseph   R.   Hanson,   Samuel  L.   Clemens,   Peter  Koch, 
George  W.  Kingsbury,  Sr.,  Joseph  H.  Taylor,  Colonel 

C.  A.  Lounsberry,  A.  C.  Leighton,  J.  R.  Mann,  Olin 

D.  Wheeler,  Major  Martin  Maginnis  and  the  late  Robert 

E.  McDowell. 

The  following  institutions  for  the  loan  of  photographs: 
The  Historical  Society  of  Montana,  the  Carnegie  Pub- 
lic Library,  Miles  City,  Montana. 

Many  of  the  chapters  have  been  submitted  to  competent 
authorities  for  critical  reading.  Such  errors  as  existed 
have  thus  been  found  and  corrected,  while,  in  a  number 
of  instances,  additional  facts  have  been  inserted.  Mrs. 
Laura  E.  Howey  and  Major  Martin  Maginnis  have  read 
the  chapters  relating  to  the  first  trip  of  the  steamer  Luella 
to  Fort  Benton,  in  1866;  Major-General  Samuel  B. 
Holabird,  those  on  the  trip  of  the  Ida  Stockdale;  Briga- 
dier-General George  A.  Forsyth,  those  on  the  exploration 
of  the  lower  Yellowstone  River  by  the  Key  West;  Lieu- 
tenant Charles  Braden,  that  on  the  Stanley  Expedition; 
Major  William  H.  H.  Crowell,  those  on  the  exploration 
of  the  upper  Yellowstone  by  the  Josephine;  Brigadier- 
General  E.  S.  Godfrey,  those  on  the  Little  Big  Horn 
campaign;  General  Godfrey  and  Colonel  C.  A.  Louns- 
berry, that  on  the  run  of  the  Far  West  with  the  wounded 
from  the  battlefield  of  the  Little  Big  Horn;  and  Lieuten- 
ant-General  Nelson  A.  Miles,  those  on  the  campaigns 
immediately  succeeding  the  battle  of  the  Little  Big  Horn. 

Joseph  Mills  Hanson. 


CONTENTS 


I  Westward  by  the  Main  Channel 

II  The  Ice  Gorge  of  '56  . 

Ill  Old-time  Packets  and  the  Men  Who  Ruled 

Them 

rV  "Mark  Twain"  at  the  Rudder    . 

V  Cupid  at  the  "Apple-butter  Stirring" 

VI  The  Battle  Morn  of  Shiloh 

VII  Barbarism  at  Bay  .... 

YLII  With  Sully  Into  the  Sioux  Lands 

IX  Three  Roads  to  El  Dorado 

X  The  "Luella"  at  Fort  Benton  in  Vigilante 
Days  ....... 

XI  The  Troubles  of  a  Treasure  Ship 

XII  The  Captain  Encounters  a  "Bad  Man" 

XIII  Blockaded  by  Buffalo 

XIV  A  Game  of  Strategy     .... 

XV  ICE-BOtJND    ON   THE    "NiLE" 

XVI  Wood  Hawks 

XVII  The  Vegetable  Trip  of  the   "North   Ala 
bama"  ...... 

XVIII  The  Hare  and  the  Tortoise 

XIX  A  Three  Thousand  Mile  Race 

XX  The  Railroad  Comes     .... 

XXI  With  Forsyth  of  Beecher's  Island 

XXII  "Yellowstone"    Kelly    Guides    the    "Key 
West"         ...... 

XXm  Campaigning  with  the  Setventh  Cavalry 


10 

16 
24 
30 
35 
48 
53 
61 

69 
80 
88 
93 
99 
105 
115 

121 
129 
136 
144 
149 

158 
171 


Contents 


CHAPTKB  PAQB 

XXrV    Pioneer  Paths 189 

XXV  Bound  for  the  Mountains       .         .         .193 

XXVI  Breasting  Unknown  Waters    .         .         .  202 

XXVII  "Lonesome  Charlie"                            .         .210 

XXVIII  By  Line  and  Spar  to  the  Head  of  Navi- 
gation   .......  214 

XXIX  First  Blood  for  Crazy  Horse          .         .  226 

XXX  Custer  to  the  Front        ....  233 

XXXI  The  Heroine  of  the  Upper  River  .         .  237 

XXXII  Strong  Men  and  True     .         .         .         .245 

XXXIII  The  Last  Council  of  War       .         .         .252 

XXXIV  The  Seventh  Marches  Into  the  Shadow  .  261 
XXXV  The  Messenger  of  Disaster    .          .          .  268 

XXXVI  The  Squadron  that  Perished           .          .  281 

XXXVII  The  Aftermath  of  Battle                 .          .  290 

XXXVIII  The  "Far  West"  Races  with  Death       .   301 

XXXIX  The  Battle  at  Powder  River                    .  316 

XL  Terry  Takes  the  Field   ....   331 

XLI  Patrol  Duty  With  Miles  and  "Buffalo 

Bill" 337 

XLn  The  Fruits  of  Struggle  ....  353 

XLIII  The  "Rosebud"  Carries  the  General  of 

THE  Army       ......  368 

XLIV  The  Bones  of  Heroes      .         .         .         .376 

XLV    Rustlers 385 

XLVI  With  Kendrick  to  the  Musselshell        .  396 

XLVII  The  Sioux  Bend  to  Fate                    .          .406 

XLVIII    Turned  Turtle 420 

XLIX  The  Garden  Out  of  the  Wilderness       .  426 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAQB 


Grant  Marsh     .......     Frontispiece 

Old  Post  Trader's  Store  at  Fort  Buford,  Dakota  .  8 

Steamer  Nellie  Peck  at  Fort  Benton  Levee  .  .        26 

Steamer  Washburn  at  the  Levee,  Washburn,  N.  Dak.         26 
Fort  Thompson,  Crow  Creek  Indian  Reservation  .        58 

Mandan  Village  at  Fort  Berthold,  about  1870     .  .        58 

Sioux  War  Dance      .......        66 

Camp  of  Grosventres  Indians  at  Fort  Buford,  1874  .  84 
"  Fast  Walker,"  Brule  Sioux,  as  He  is  To-day  .  .112 

Company  "  G,"  6th  U.  S.  Infantry,  at  Fort  Buford  .  126 
Fort  Abraham  Lincoln       .  .  .  .  .  .146 

"Yellowstone"  Kelly  in  1870 154 

Group  of  Officers  and  Ladies  of  the  7th  U.  S.  Cavalry 

at  Fort  Lincoln,  about  1875        .  .  .  .172 

Key  to  Foregoing  Photograph   .  .  .  .  .172 

Summer  Camp  of  Troops  at  Fort  Buford,  1875    .  .194 

Pompey's  Pillar,  on  the  Yellowstone  River,  Montana. 

Reached  by  the  Steamer  Josephine  June  3,  1875  216 
Cavalry  Camp  on  the  Yellowstone,  1876     .  .  .      228 

General  Gibbon's  Wagon  Train  .  .  .  .228 

Steamer  Far  West 238 

Where  Reno  Crossed  ...•••  252 
Scene  on  the  Big  Horn  River    .  .         •         •         .     270 

xiii 


List  of  IlliLstrations 


PAOS 

Heart  Arch,  Near  Tongue  River,  Montana  .  .     270 

Sitting  Bull     .  288 

Graves  of  Unknown  Dead  on  Custer  Battlefield  .  .     296 

First   Monument  on  Custer  Battlefield   in  Course    of 

Construction      .  .  .  .  .  .  .296 

First  Headboard  Over  the  Grave  of  Lieut.  James  G. 

Sturgis,  7th  Cavalry,  on  the  Custer  Battlefield  .  300 
First  Monument  on  the  Custer  Battlefield  .  .     300 

Stanley's  Stockade  on  the  Yellowstone       .  .  .      306 

First  Monument  Over  the  Grave  of  Capt.  Myles  W. 

Keogh,  on  the  Custer  Battlefield  .  .  .     306 

Original  Copy  of  the  Bismarck  Tribune,  July  6,  1876  .  310 
Custer  Monument     .          .          .          .          .         .          .314 

The  Crow  Scout,  Curley 324 

Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles 337 

Steamer  Rosebud  on  the  Missouri  River       .  .  .     370 

Steamer  F.  Y.  Baichelor 394 

National    Cemetery    and    Present   Monument  on  the 

Battlefield  of  the  Little  Big  Horn       .         .         .418 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  MISSOURI 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE 
MISSOURI 

CHAPTER  I 

WESTWARD   BY  THE   MAIN   CHANNEL 

Tfie  rousters  are  rushing  the  cargoes  on. 

In  the  flush  of  the  early  dawn. 
While  the  packets  ride  on  the  rocking  tide. 

And  chafe  to  be  out  and  gone. 

SINCE  the  days  when  the  first  far-scattered  Spanish 
and  French  and  Enghsh  adventurers  forced  their 
slow  way  into  the  untamed  North  American  wil- 
derness, striving  mightily  against  savage  foes  and  more 
savage  nature,  the  rivers  of  the  continent  have  marked 
the  lines  of  warfare  and  the  boundaries  of  conquest.  The 
natural  avenues  of  communication  between  one  region 
and  another,  it  has  been  beside  and  upon  their  waters 
that  the  pioneers  have  ever  pushed  their  persistent  way 
through  dangers  and  difficulties  until  the  whole  land  lay 
open  at  their  feet.  It  was  but  yesterday  that  the  last 
strongholds  of  barbarism  along  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte, 
and  the  Colorado  of  the  Southwest,  and  the  Missouri  with 
its  fretful  tributaries  of  the  Northwest,  still  stood  locked 
and  defiant  against  the  besieging  hosts  of  civilization. 
To-day  they  are  fallen,  never  to  rise  again. 

3 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


But  amid  the  regions  traversed  by  those  historic  streams, 
where  the  echo  of  the  war  whoop  and  the  sharp  crack  of 
the  cavalry  carbine  have  scarce  died  away,  still  linger 
many  of  the  men  who  helped  to  bring  to  submission  those 
final  citadels  of  savagery.  Gray-haired  they  may  be, 
feeble,  perhaps,  some  of  them.  But  in  their  carriage  is  a 
manner  of  self-reliant  freedom  and  in  their  eyes  a  light 
of  power  which  men  bred  to  milder  modes  of  life  cannot 
know.  For  they  have  looked  upon  Nature  in  her  uncon- 
quered  strength  and  majesty;  they  have  grappled  with  her 
creatures  in  equal  combat,  and  have  come  off  victors. 
The  continent  will  not  know  their  like  again. 

Though  for  the  most  part  these  survivors  of  a  vanished 
era  have  retired  into  the  peaceful  old  age  which  their 
years  of  effort  have  earned  for  them,  a  few  are  still  living 
and  working  in  the  fields  of  their  earlier  activities.  So,  if 
one  should  walk  down  to  the  river  front  of  the  little  town 
of  Washburn,  North  Dakota,  on  almost  any  day  during 
the  summer  season,  he  would  be  apt  to  encounter  there, 
busied  about  the  loading  or  unloading  of  one  of  the  small, 
stern-wheel  steamboats  which  still  ply  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Missouri,  a  man  whose  whole  appearance  and 
manner  would  at  once  call  to  mind  the  history  and  ro- 
mance of  the  days  when  the  Big  Muddy  ran  far  beyond 
the  confines  of  civilization  and  was  the  scene  of  military 
activity  and  frontier  adventure.  Nor  does  the  truth  belie 
his  appearance.  Tall,  broad-shouldered  and  powerful  of 
frame,  clear-eyed  and  gentle  of  voice,  this  veteran  naviga- 
tor of  the  Missouri  has  lived  and  worked,  shoulder  to 

4 


Westward  by  the  Main  Channel 

shoulder,  with  many  men  famous  in  history,  and  passed 
through  as  many  strange  and  rugged  experiences  as  would 
stock  the  biography  of  an  adventurer  of  the  Spanish  Main. 

Though  the  river  traffic  of  the  Missouri  is  generally  held 
to  have  died  out  many  years  ago.  Grant  Prince  Marsh, 
steamboat  captain  and  pilot,  still  finds  on  its  tawny 
waters  the  home  and  the  congenial  occupation  to  which 
he  has  been  devoted  since  the  long-ago  day  in  1846  when, 
as  a  small  lad  of  twelve  years,  bent  upon  seeing  the  world, 
he  applied  for  a  position  to  Captain  Alfred  Reno,  of  the 
steamer  Dover,  lying  at  the  levee  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and 
was  shipped  as  cabin-boy  for  the  first  of  his  hundreds  of 
voyages  on  the  waterways  of  the  West. 

The  impulse  which  sent  him  to  seek  the  life  of  the  river 
at  so  tender  an  age  was  as  natural  as  that  which  impels 
many  a  boy  born  within  sound  of  the  ocean's  breakers  to 
seek  a  home  on  the  face  of  the  deep  as  soon  as  he  can 
contrive  to  slip  away  from  the  paternal  roof.  Since  his 
baby  eyes  had  first  learned  to  see,  this  child  of  the  fresh- 
water regions  had  known  steamboats.  When  scarcely 
more  than  old  enough  to  talk,  he  and  his  playmates  in  his 
little  native  town  of  Rochester,  thirty  miles  below  Pitts- 
burg, had  been  accustomed  to  rush  to  the  river  bank 
whenever  a  packet  came  by,  watching  her  in  awe  and 
admiration  until  she  passed  beyond  view.  Sometimes, 
impelled  by  a  childish  impulse  of  mischief,  they  would 
throw  stones  at  the  laboring  monsters.  The  veteran  boat- 
man remembers  with  amusement  an  afternoon  when  the 
big  side-wheeler   Isaac  Newton^    Captain  Mason,  came 

5 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


puffing  up  from  Cincinnati,  and  he  and  his  playmates 
began  their  pastime  of  throwing  stones  at  her.  The 
Newton  was  a  short,  wide  boat,  very  difficult  to  handle, 
and  as  she  passed  she  suddenly  "ran  away"  with  her 
pilot  and  came  straight  toward  the  shore  where  the  boys 
were  assembled.  Smitten  with  terror,  and  thinking  that 
she  was  in  pursuit  of  them,  they  fled  precipitately  up  the 
hill,  never  stopping  until  safe  in  their  homes. 

But  young  Marsh  had  learned  a  larger  respect  for  the 
puissant  steamboat  when,  a  few  years  later,  he  proudly 
took  his  place  as  a  member  of  the  crew  of  the  Dover  and 
heard  the  paddles  churn  as  she  swung  out  into  the  current, 
bearing  him  away  upon  his  first  voyage.  The  Dover  was 
an  Allegheny  River  boat,  plying  between  Pittsburg  and 
Freeport,  Pa.,  and  her  trade  was  heavy  and  continuous, 
as  was  that  of  her  numerous  consorts  on  the  Ohio  and  its 
tributaries.  West  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  no  rail- 
roads had  penetrated  at  that  date,  and  the  steamboats 
controlled  all  the  commerce  of  the  teeming  river  towns  as 
well  as  the  immense  volume  of  immigration  which  was 
rolling  constantly  westward  into  the  great,  undeveloped 
regions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the  fertile  vastnesses 
beyond.  It  was  a  time  when  men's  thoughts  turned 
westward  irresistibly,  drawn  by  the  fascination  of  unknown 
but  alluring  lands.  The  prairies  of  Iowa  and  the  wooded 
hills  of  Missouri  were  as  attractive  to  thousands  of  home- 
seekers  as  was  the  lure  of  the  far-off  California  gold-fields 
to  other  thousands. 

Young  Marsh,  being  of  a  disposition  to  follow  where 

6 


Westward  by  the  Main  Channel 

fortune  might  lead,  with  increasing  years  gradually  drifted 
westward  on  the  universal  tide,  leaving  the  Allegheny  to 
work  on  the  boats  running  between  Pittsburg  and  Ohio 
River  points,  and  finally  catching  his  first  glimpse  of  the 
Mississippi  when,  in  the  early  spring  of  1852,  he  found 
employment  as  a  deckhand  on  board  the  Pittsburg-St. 
Louis  packet  Beaver,  commanded  by  Captain  Sharp  Hemp- 
hill, and  went  on  her  to  St.  Louis.  This  city,  the  metropo- 
lis of  the  Mississippi  Valley  then  as  now,  presented  a  very 
different  aspect  to  its  present  one  when  young  Marsh  first 
beheld  it  from  the  deck  of  the  Beaver.  Spread  along  the 
river  bank  was  a  city  of  95,000  people,  containing  many 
great  business  establishments  and  commanding  the  com- 
merce of  a  vast  territory.  But  not  a  foot  of  railroad  was 
then  in  operation  out  of  the  city,  nor,  indeed,  was  there  a 
foot  in  operation  anywhere  west  of  the  Mississippi.  On 
the  other  hand,  her  levee  was  lined  with  scores  of  steam- 
boats whose  trade  routes  radiated  to  the  four  points  of 
the  compass  and  brought  to  her  merchants  produce  to  the 
value  of  over  $10,000,000.00  annually.  The  arrivals  of 
steamboats  in  the  port  of  St.  Louis  at  this  time  averaged 
3,000  yearly,  and  the  total  rated  capacity  of  these  was 
about  50,000  tons,  making  St.  Louis  the  third  port  in  the 
Union  in  amount  of  enrolled  steam  tonnage,  New  York 
and  New  Orleans  alone  exceeding  her.* 

The  young  boatman's  first  recollections  of  the  western 
city  carry  with  them  something  of  gloom,  for  1852  was  one 
of  the  years   when   Asiatic   cholera   was   scourging  the 
*  J.  Thomas  Scharf,  "History  of  St.  Louis  City  and  County." 

7 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


country;  and  St.  Louis  suffered  heavily  from  the  plague. 
Just  as  Marsh  first  stepped  on  the  levee  from  the  deck  of 
the  Beaver,  he  met  a  man  leaving  another  boat  with  two 
babies  in  his  arms.  This  gentleman  accosted  him  and 
stated  that  the  parents  of  the  children  he  was  carrying 
had  both  died  of  cholera  on  the  boat  and  he,  in  pity,  had 
taken  charge  of  the  helpless  orphans  in  the  hope  of  find- 
ing them  a  home. 

Having  attained  the  Mississippi,  for  two  years  Grant 
Marsh  contented  himself  with  remaining  in  the  Louisville 
and  St.  Louis  trade.  Then  once  more  the  restless  desire 
for  new  lands  took  possession  of  him,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1854  he  shipped  as  a  deck  hand  on  the  Missouri  River 
steamer  F.  X.  Aubrey,  commanded  by  Captain  Ambrose 
Reeder,  and  running  in  the  open  season  between  St.  Louis 
and  St.  Joseph,  Mo.  Thus  the  boy  of  nineteen,  already 
familiar  with  the  intricate  duties  and  versed  in  the  peculiar 
kinds  of  knowledge  demanded  by  western  river  naviga- 
tion, first  came  upon  the  waters  of  that  greatest  and  most 
erratic  of  American  streams  where  most  of  his  life  was  to 
be  spent.  For  one  year  he  remained  with  the  Aubrey  and 
then  changed  to  the  A.  B.  Chambers,  Captain  Bowman. 

There  was  plenty  of  business  to  do,  for  until  the  summer 
of  1855,  when  the  Missouri  Pacific  was  completed  to  Jef- 
ferson City,  no  railroad  extended  westward  along  the  Mis- 
souri from  St.  Louis.  All  the  commerce  of  the  prosperous 
agricultural  country  lying  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Kansas  line  was  handled  by  steamers,  and  a  particularly 
heavy  business  was  always  done  in  the  autumn,  when  the 

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great  crops  of  tobacco,  hemp,  and  small  grain,  produced 
by  slave  labor  on  the  plantations  of  the  valley,  began  to 
pour  into  the  steamboat  landings  for  shipment  to  the  St. 
Louis  markets.  Kansas  City  did  not  yet  exist  and  West- 
port  was  the  northern  terminus  of  the  historic  old  Santa 
Fe  Trail,  and  also  the  distributing  point  for  the  section  of 
country  of  which  the  former  city  is  now  the  center.  Goods 
for  Sedalia,  Marshall,  Warrensburg,  Holden  and  other 
important  towns  in  the  interior  were  put  ashore  at  the 
nearest  river  landing  and  hauled  thence  to  their  destina- 
tions in  large  freight  wagons,  drawn  by  several  span  of 
oxen  or  horses. 


9 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   ICE   GORGE   OF    '56 

And  then  that  gorge  sent  up  a  roar 
That  shook  the  solid  ground; 
The  sort  that  splits  your  ears  in  two 
When  a  side-wheel  packet  drops  a  flue 
An"  bloivs  six  b'ilers  amongst  her  cre\o 
An'  cooks  them  that  ain't  drowned. 

DURING  the  winter  of  1855-1856,  the  A.  B.  Cham- 
bers lay  in  ice-harbor  at  the  St.  Louis  levee  and 
Grant  Marsh  remained  on  board  her  as  watch- 
man. The  winter  was  an  unusually  severe  one,  and  the 
river,  which  does  not  often  freeze  over  at  St.  Louis,  closed 
hard  and  fast  on  New  Year's  Day,  1856,  the  ice  con- 
tinuing to  grow  thicker  for  some  time  after  that.  The 
river  front,  says  Captain  Marsh,  was  so  solidly  lined  with 
steamboats  that  without  stepping  ashore  one  could  walk 
upon  their  decks  from  Belcher's  sugar  refinery  to  Almond 
(now  Valentine)  Street,  a  distance  of  twenty  blocks. 

Late  in  February  a  period  of  warm  weather  set  in  on 
the  upper  rivers,  causing  a  rise  of  water  at  St.  Louis  before 
the  heavy  ice  had  begun  to  thaw  there.  The  result  was 
terrible.  On  the  day  following,  February  28th,  a  local 
newspaper*  published  an  account  of  the  disaster  which 
is  so  graphic  that  it  may  well  be  reproduced  here: 

*  The  Missouri  Republican,  after  the  editor  of  which  the  steamer 
A.  B.  Chambers  was  named. 

10 


The  Ice  Gorge  of  '56 


"The  ice  at  first  moved  slowly,"  says  the  chronicle, 
"  and  without  perceptible  shock.  The  boats  above  Chest- 
nut Street  were  merely  shoved  ashore,  and  for  five  minutes 
sustained  no  damage.  Messrs.  Eads'  and  Nelson's  Sub- 
marine Number  4,  which  had  just  finished  her  work  at 
the  wreck  of  the  Parthenia,  was  almost  immediately  cap- 
sized, and  became  herself  a  hopeless  wreck.  The  Sub- 
marine floated  down,  lying  broadside  against  the  Federal 
Arch,  which  boat  was  being  wrecked  and  of  little  value. 
Here  the  destruction  commenced.  The  Federal  Arch 
parted  her  fastenings  and  became  at  once  a  total  wreck. 
Lying  below  were  the  steamers  Australia,  Adriatic,  Bru- 
nette, Paul  Jones,  Falls  City,  Altoona,  A.  B.  Chambers 
and  Challenge,  all  of  which  were  torn  away  from  the  shore 
and  in  company  with  the  Submarine  and  Federal  Arch, 
floated  down  with  the  immense  field  of  ice. 

"The  fleet  of  ten  boats  were  more  or  less  damaged  at 
starting  by  crowding  against  one  another.  All  the  upper 
works  of  the  Brunette  and  Australia  were  torn  to  pieces 
and  the  Altoona  was  badly  damaged.  The  shock  and  the 
crushing  of  these  boats  when  they  were  driven  together 
can  be  better  imagined  than  described.  All  their  ample 
fastenings  were  as  nothing  against  the  enormous  flood  of 
ice,  and  they  were  carried  down  apparently  fastened  and 
wedged  together.  The  first  obstacles  with  which  they 
came  in  contact  were  a  large  fleet  of  wood  boats,  barges 
and  canal  boats.  These  small  fry  were  either  broken  in 
pieces  or  forced  out  of  the  water  upon  the  levee  in  a  very 
damaged  condition.     We  are  not  able  to  state  the  number, 

11 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


but  there  could  not  have  been  short  of  fifty  in  all,  which 
were  either  sunk,  broken  or  carried  away  with  the  descend- 
ing boats.  About  twenty  of  them  met  with  the  latter  fate, 
and  the  whole  fleet  lodged  about  one  mile  below,  against 
the  point  of  the  island  at  the  Lower  Dyke.  The  Adriatic 
lost  one  of  her  wheels  by  swinging  against  the  Falls  City 
after  they  landed  upon  the  bar  below.  The  Falls  City 
and  the  Paul  Jones  are  very  badly  damaged,  the  A.  B. 
Chambers  but  slightly.  The  Challenge  is  also  badly 
injured. 

"After  these  boats  had  passed  down,  the  Bon  Accord 
and  Highland  Mary,  lying  together,  were  carried  off  and 
are  both  a  total  loss.  The  new  St.  Paul,  on  the  docks, 
was  slightly  damaged,  and  part  of  the  docks  swept  away 
from  under  her.  The  Highland  Mary  struck  against  the 
Die  Vernon,  damaging  the  latter  boat  considerably.  The 
Louisville  was  also  torn  away  from  her  moorings,  and  at 
last  accounts  was  lying  brqadside  and  across  the  current 
with  the  other  boats  below.  She  is  probably  a  total  loss. 
The  Lamartine  was  carried  away  in  the  same  manner  and 
will  doubtless  be  lost.  The  Westerner  broke  her  fasten- 
ings and  swung  against  the  Jeanie  Deans,  injuring  the 
latter  considerably. 


"Some  ot  the  boats  lying  above  Chestnut  Street  fared 
badly  in  the  meantime.  The  F.  X.  Aubrey  was  forced 
into  the  bank  and  had  her  larboard  wheel  broken.  The 
noble   Nebraska,   which   every  one  thought   in   a  most 

12 


The  Ice  Gorge  of  '56 


perilous  situation,  lost  her  larboard  wheel  and  was  not 
otherwise  much  injured.  The  Gossamer,  Luella,  Alice 
and  Badger  State  were  forced  ashore  and  slightly  damaged. 
Both  the  Alton  wharf  boats  were  sunk  and  broken  to 
pieces.  The  old  Shenandoah,  being  wrecked,  and  the 
Sam  Cloon  were  forced  away  from  shore  and  floated  down 
together  against  the  steamer  Clara.  The  latter  did  not 
part  her  fastenings,  and  she  and  the  Shenandoah  lodged, 
when  they  were  soon  torn  to  pieces  and  sunk  by  the  ice 
and  one  of  the  ferryboats,  which  came  down  alone.  The 
ferryboat  floated  on  to  the  foot  of  Market  Street,  carrying 
part  of  the  Shenandoah  with  her.  The  steamers  Clara 
and  Ben  Bolt  were  both  badly  damaged  by  the  ice  and 
forced  partly  ashore.  The  O.  W.  Sparhawk  was  sunk, 
and  looked  as  if  broken  in  two  lying  at  the  shore.  The 
Keokuk  wharf  boat  maintained  its  position  against  the 
flood  and  saved  three  boats  below,  the  Polar  Star,  J.  S. 
Pringle  and  Forest  Rose,  none  of  which  were  up  to  this 
time  materially  injured. 

"  After  running  about  one  hour,  the  character  of  ice  was 
changed  and  came  down  in  frothy,  crumbled  condition, 
with  now  and  then  a  heavy  piece.  At  the  end  of  two  hours 
it  ran  very  slowly,  and  finally  stopped  about  half-past  five 
o'clock.  During  this  interval  a  number  of  persons  crossed 
it  from  the  ferry  landing  on  Bloody  Island.  They  were 
chiefly  passengers  by  a  train  just  arrived,  anxious  to  reach 
the  city.  The  experiment  was  daring,  "but  they  landed 
safely  on  this  side. 

"  Just  before  the  river  gorged,  huge  piles  of  ice  twenty 

13 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


and  thirty  feet  in  height  were  forced  up  by  the  current  on 
every  hand,  both  on  the  shore  and  at  the  Lower  Dyke, 
where  so  many  boats  had  come  to  a  halt.  In  fact,  these 
boats  seemed  to  be  hterally  buried  in  ice.  It  had  not  been 
broken  below  Cahokia  Bend,  and  all  the  drift  thus  far  had 
gorged  between  the  city  and  that  point;  hence  its  sudden 
stop.  At  six  o'clock  P.  M.  the  river  had  risen  at  least 
ten  feet.     At  dark  the  people  went  home. 

"The  terrible  sweep  of  waters  with  its  burden  of  ice, 
the  mashing  to  pieces  of  boats,  the  hurrying  to  and  fro  of 
the  excited  crowd,  was  one  of  the  most  awful  and  at  the 
same  time  most  imposing  scenes  we  have  ever  witnessed. 
The  officers  and  crews  of  many  of  the  boats  went  down 
the  river  with  them;  the  lookers-on  became  alarmed  and 
sprang  from  boat  to  boat  in  a  rush  for  the  shores.  The 
captains  and  owners  of  canal,  flatboats  and  barges  fled, 
leaving  their  property  to  the  mercy  of  circumstances.  At 
seven  P.  M.  the  gorge  below  broke  and  the  ice  began 
running  again.  The  current  was  now  much  more  swift 
and  the  night  very  dark,  a  heavy  and  steady  rain  having 
set  in." 

That  night  and  the  next  day  the  escaping  ice  com- 
pleted the  demolition  of  several  boats  already  damaged, 
but  the  second  day's  destruction  was  not  so  great  nor  so 
unexpected  as  that  of  the  first,  whose  record  will  always 
remain  one  of  the  most  appalling  of  those  in  the  history 
of  the  Mississippi.  The  A.  B.  Chambers  came  through 
with  less  injury  than  many  of  her  consorts,  though 
Watchman  Marsh,  floating  upon  her  alone  and  helpless 

14 


The  Ice  Gorge  of  '56 


through  the  spHntering  wreckage  along  the  levee,  ex- 
pected nothing  less  than  to  be  killed,  until  she  finally 
lodged  against  the  wall  of  the  United  States  Arsenal, 
three  miles  from  her  starting  point,  and  he  found  himself 
once  more  safe. 


15 


CHAPTER  III 

OLD-TIME   PACKETS   AND   THE   MEN   WHO   RULED  THEM 

Sing  hoi  fer  ilie  pilot  at  the  wheel, 
A-shavin'  the  shoals  on  a  twelve-inch  keel. 
Enough  to  scare  yeh  sick. 

EVEN  such  a  wholesale  loss  of  boats  as  that  just 
described  could  not  more  than  temporarily  injure 
the  vast  floating  traffic  of  the  western  rivers,  for 
in  those  long  years  "before  the  War"  steamboating  was 
in  the  zenith  of  its  prosperity,  and  the  majestic  packet  had 
no  rival  to  contest  its  right  to  commercial  supremacy. 
Vast  sums  of  money  were  expended  in  fitting  up  palatial 
vessels,  and  passengers  paid  well  for  the  privilege  of  trav- 
eling upon  them,  as,  indeed,  would  have  been  necessary  in 
any  case,  for  the  expense  of  running  the  boats  by  the  im- 
perfect methods  then  in  vogue  was  very  great.  Certain 
mechanical  features  of  these  old  steamers  which  would 
seem  curious  indeed  to  the  present-day  marine  engineer, 
are  remembered  by  Captain  Marsh. 

At  that  time  the  size  of  a  boat  was  determined  by  the 
number  of  boilers  she  carried,  and  in  describing  any 
vessel  a  riverman  would  term  her  "a  two-boiler  boat," 
or  "four-boiler  boat,"  without  reference  to  her  length  or 
breadth  of  beam.     The  reason  for  this  was  that  every 

16 


Old- Time  Packets  and  Men  Who  Ruled   Them 

vessel  was  obliged  to  carry  as  many  boilers  as  could  be 
crowded  upon  her  in  order  to  make  her  go  at  all.  The 
waste  of  steam  and  fuel  was  enormous,  for  the  practice 
of  exhausting  in  the  chimneys  had  not  yet  been  thought 
of  nor  had  that  of  heating  the  water  before  it  went  into 
the  boilers.  The  big  steamer  Eclipse,  Captain  Sturgeon, 
built  in  the  '50s,  had  a  battery  of  fifteen  boilers,  eight 
large  and  seven  small,  and  to  keep  them  heated  required 
wood  by  the  car  load.  Captain  Marsh  tells  a  story,  once 
current  along  the  river,  of  the  old  Nebraska,  a  boat  of  the 
same  class  as  the  Eclipse.  It  is  to  the  effect  that  once  on 
a  trip  to  New  Orleans  she  landed  at  a  yard  and  took  on 
one  hundred  cords  of  wood.  As  there  were  no  snubbing 
posts  at  the  landing  to  tie  to  during  the  progress  of  the 
work.  Captain  Jolly  held  her  up  to  the  bank  by  the  out- 
side wheel,  which  made  it  necessary  to  keep  the  engines 
going.  When  the  fuel  was  loaded  and  the  boat  ready  to 
start,  it  was  discovered  that  all  the  wood  taken  aboard 
had  been  used  up  in  holding  her  to  the  bank! 

While  this  same  steamer  Nebraska  was  being  built  at 
Cincinnati,  her  mate,  a  man  named  Bassett,  ordered  for 
her  a  hawser  eight  inches  in  diameter.  The  rope  manu- 
facturers were  dazed  on  receiving  an  order  for  a  rope  of 
such  extraordinary  size,  but  they  rigged  up  special  ma- 
chinery and  made  it.  When  finished  it  required  two 
freight  cars  to  carry  the  cable  to  the  steamboat.  The 
captain  saw  at  once  that  it  was  too  large  and  unwieldy 
for  service  and  sent  it  back  to  the  factory  where,  after 
enough  ropes  for  the  Nebraska's  use  had  been  made  from 

17 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


it,  the  remainder  was  still  suflficient  to  equip  several  other 
steamers. 

Asbestos  and  spring  packing  were  unknown  in  the  '50s 
and  the  engines  were  packed  with  cotton  rope  and  cedar 
blocks,  materials  which  served  their  purpose  but  indiffer- 
ently. When  it  came  to  the  control  and  navigation  of  a 
steamer,  the  methods  then  in  force  also  differed  greatly 
from  those  of  later  years.  For  example,  it  was  customary 
to  have  a  speaking  trumpet  extending  from  the  hurricane 
deck  down  to  the  fire-doors  on  the  main  deck.  When 
making  a  landing,  the  captain,  standing  on  the  upper 
deck,  would  use  this  trumpet  to  direct  the  firemen.  At 
such  times  the  engineer  had  nothing  to  say;  the  captain 
engineered  her  from  the  roof,  shouting  through  the  tube: 

"  Open  the  quarter  doors ! "  "  Fill  up  the  wing  doors ! " 
"Fill  up  clear  across!"  or  whatever  other  orders  he  chose 
to  give. 

But  the  captain  was  by  no  means  the  most  important 
individual  on  the  ante-bellum  steamboat.  In  point  of 
authority,  of  prestige  and  of  general  indispensability,  he 
loomed  exceedingly  small  beside  that  truly  despotic  lord 
of  the  old-time  river,  the  pilot.  Upon  the  pilot  depended 
absolutely  the  safety  of  vessel,  passengers  and  cargo,  and 
when  the  boat  was  under  way,  his  word  was  a  law  before 
which  every  one  bowed.  His  profession  was  a  very  difl5- 
cult  one  to  learn,  requiring  years  of  apprenticeship,  and  as 
the  pilots  themselves  were  the  only  ones  who  could  train 
new  men  for  places  in  their  ranks,  they  took  good  care 
that  their  numbers  were  kept  down  to  small  and  select 

18 


Old-Time  Packets  and  Men  Who  Ruled   2' hem 

proportions  in  order  that  neither  their  power  nor  the 
princely  salaries  which  they  commanded  should  be  di- 
minished. Every  pilot  was,  as  he  is  to-day,  licensed  by 
the  Government  and  no  boat  could  move  without  him, 
but  as  the  profits  of  steamboating  were  great  then,  he 
could  demand  almost  any  wages  he  chose,  and  Captain 
Marsh  relates  several  amusing  anecdotes  in  this  connec- 
tion of  pilots  whom  he  knew  and  worked  with. 

One  of  these  was  Joe  Oldham,  a  man  famous  in  his  time 
for  three  things;  his  skill  as  a  pilot,  his  independence  and 
his  extravagance  in  personal  adornment.  His  was  the 
distinction  of  possessing  the  largest,  heaviest  and  most 
expensive  gold  watch  on  the  river.  Its  stem  contained  a 
diamond  worth  five  hundred  dollars,  and  he  wore  it  sus- 
pended about  his  neck  by  a  massive  gold  chain.  In  the 
winter  he  wore  huge  fur  mittens  reaching  to  his  elbows, 
and  in  the  summer  kid  gloves  of  the  most  delicate  hue. 

One  day  a  small,  side-wheel  packet,  the  Moses  Green- 
wood, on  her  way  up  from  the  Ohio  bound  for  Weston, 
Mo.,  came  into  St.  Louis  looking  for  a  Missouri  River 
pilot.  It  happened  that  Oldham  was  the  only  one  in 
town  and  when  the  captain  came  to  him,  he  blandly  stated 
that  he  would  take  the  Moses  Greenwood  to  Weston  and 
back,  about  a  week's  trip,  for  one  thousand  dollars.  The 
captain  demurred,  but  after  several  days,  during  which 
no  other  pilots  appeared,  and  being  in  a  hurry,  he  went  to 
Oldham  and  said  that  he  would  pay  the  price. 

"Well,  I  can't  accept  now,  Captain,"  answered  the  pilot, 
nonchalantly.     "I'm  going  to  a  picnic  this  afternoon." 

19 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Pleadings  were  of  no  avail,  and  to  the  picnic  he  went. 

On  another  occasion  the  steamer  Post  Boy,  Captain 
Rider,  came  into  St.  Louis  on  her  way  to  Leavenworth. 
Captain  Rider  sent  for  Oldham,  who  was  again  the  only 
member  of  the  craft  in  town,  and  he  came  down  to  the 
levee,  bedecked  with  diamonds  as  usual,  wearing  a  silk 
hat  and  patent-leather  shoes,  and  shielding  himself  from 
the  summer  sun  with  a  gold-handled,  silk  umbrella. 

"  How  much  will  you  charge  to  take  my  boat  to  Leaven- 
worth and  back,  Mr.  Oldham?"  asked  the  captain. 

"Fifteen  hundred  dollars,"  answered  the  pilot,  gently. 

"What?"  shouted  Captain  Rider.  "Man,  that's  more 
than  the  boat  will  make." 

Oldham  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"Well,  talk  fast,  Captain,"  he  said.  "I  won't  stand 
here  in  the  hot  sun  fifteen  minutes  for  fifteen  hundred 
dollars." 

The  captain  ground  his  teeth,  but  there  was  nothing 
to  be  done  save  pay  the  price  or  lie  in  port.  So  at  length 
he  said: 

"All  right,  I'll  consent  to  be  robbed  this  time.  We're 
all  ready  to  start.     Come  aboard." 

"But  I'm  not  ready,"  quoth  the  pilot.  "Just  call  a 
carriage  and  send  me  up  to  my  rooms  for  my  baggage." 

Nevertheless,  once  aboard  he  did  his  work  well,  making 
the  round  trip  in  the  excellent  time  of  nine  days  and  with 
no  mishaps  from  the  pitfalls  of  the  treacherous  Big  Muddy. 
Despite  all  the  money  he  earned  during  the  years  of  the 
river's  prosperity,  when  it  was  over,  poor,  improvident 

20 


Old-Timc  Packets  and  Men  Who  Ruled   Them 

Oldham  found  himself  penniless,  and  when  he  died,  years 
after,  it  was  in  abject  poverty,  in  a  wretched  hovel  near 
the  river  bank  at  Yankton,  South  Dakota. 

It  was  fortunate  for  Captain  Rider  in  his  transaction 
with  Oldham,  that  the  latter  was  not  of  as  sensitive  a  dis- 
position as  was  the  pilot  in  another  similar  case.  This 
man's  name  was  Bob  Burton  and  one  day  when  the 
steamer  Aleonia,  Captain  Miller,  appeared  at  St.  Louis, 
Bob  demanded  one  thousand  dollars  for  taking  her  to 
Weston,  with  the  result  that  Captain  Miller  called  him  a 
robber  and  ordered  him  off  the  boat.  As  usual,  the  cap- 
tain could  secure  no  one  else,  and  after  several  days,  sent 
for  Bob  and  told  him  that  he  would  pay  the  thousand 
dollars. 

"I  won't  go  for  less  than  fifteen  hundred,"  replied  Bob. 

"What?"  growled  the  captain.  "You  said  you'd  go 
for  a  thousand." 

"Yes,"  said  Bob,  "but  you  insulted  me,  sir,  and  I 
charge  you  five  hundred  dollars  for  that." 

Whatever  the  wages  they  could  command,  the  pilots 
were  not  always  entirely  successful  in  navigating  the  diflS- 
cult  Missouri,  but  they  seldom  permitted  themselves  to 
be  criticised  or  to  appear  disconcerted  even  in  the  face  of 
repeated  mishaps  for  which  they  were  responsible.  This 
was  aptly  demonstrated  in  the  case  of  a  certain  member 
of  the  craft  who  once,  in  steering  a  boat  up  from  St.  Louis, 
met  with  so  many  accidents  such  as  running  aground, 
breaking  the  wheel  and  otherwise  mutilating  the  vessel, 
that  at  last  the  captain  came  to  him  angrily  and  demanded : 

21 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


"Look  here,  how  many  times  have  you  been  up  the 
Missouri  River,  anyway?" 

"Twice,"  responded  the  navigator  unabashed.  "Once 
in  a  skiff  and  once  on  horseback." 

Another  of  Captain  Marsh's  brother  pilots  of  early  days 
was  Jim  Gunsalis,  who  almost  rivaled  Oldham  in  the  bar- 
baric splendor  of  his  apparel.  When  he  was  pilot  of  the 
A.  B,  Chambers  No.  2,  his  regular  salary  was  eight  hun- 
dred dollars  per  month.  His  particular  weakness  was  for 
diamonds.  Though  the  cabin  was  always  so  filled  with 
passengers  that  the  officers  of  the  boat  were  accustomed 
to  take  their  meals  in  the  Texas,*  Gunsalis  positively 
refused  to  do  so,  insisting  on  a  seat  at  the  saloon  table, 
where  his  jewelry  might  receive  its  due  meed  of  admira- 
tion. He,  like  Oldham,  died  in  poverty,  his  last  occupa- 
tion being  that  of  tender  for  a  dump  boat  at  Carondelet, 
below  St,  liOuis,  and  his  funeral  expenses  were  paid  by 
subscription. 

Next  to  the  pilot,  the  most  important  individual  on  the 

old-time  steamboat  was  the  barkeeper.     No  sooner  would 

the  papers  announce  that  a  contract  had  been  let  for  a  new 

packet  than  every  one  would  begin  speculating  as  to  who 

would  be  selected  for  barkeeper.     On  a  first-class  boat, 

the  barkeeper's  dignity  would  not  permit  him  to  descend 

to  the  vulgarity  of  mixing  drinks.     He  employed  help  for 

*  It  is  said  that  in  early  days,  when  steamboats  were  small  and  their 
cabins  few,  it  was  customary  to  name  the  cabins  after  the  States  of  the 
Union,  and  the  cabin  which  was  superimposed  upon  the  others,  being 
much  the  largest,  was  called  the  "Texas"  cabin,  after  the  largest  State. 
In  course  of  time  the  custom  died  out  with  respect  to  the  other  cabins, 
but  the  "Texas"  has  always  retained  its  name. — J.  M.  H. 

22 


Old-Time  Packets  and  Men  Who  Ruled    Them 

that  purpose  and  himself  mingled  with  the  passengers 
and  assisted  the  professional  gamblers,  who  infested  every 
boat,  in  fleecing  them,  receiving  for  his  services  a  hand- 
some commission.  The  gamblers  never  took  long  trips, 
but  after  making  a  "winning,"  would  disembark  before 
they  should  be  suspected.  But  the  barkeeper,  like  the 
poor,  the  passengers  had  always  with  them. 


23 


CHAPTER  IV 

"mark  twain"  at  the  rudder 

He  jammed  her  haw  through  the  buckin'  tide 
Till  the  painter  floated  free. 
With  blinded  eyes  and  drippin'  skin. 
He  fought  for  the  race  he  had  set  to  win. 
Like  a  soldier  fights,  till  the  ice  rolled  in 
And  ground  against  her  lee. 

IN  the  year  following  the  disastrous  St.  Louis  ice  gorge, 
young  Marsh  once  more  extended  the  horizon  of  his 
experiences  by  going  to  Omaha  on  the  large  side- 
wheel  packet  Alonzo  Child,  of  which  he  was  enrolled  as 
mate  under  Captain  Joe  Holland.  The  young  man  had 
passed  the  stage  of  apprenticeship  and  entered  upon  that 
of  command. 

In  Omaha  he  found  a  town  of  the  old  frontier  in  the 
truest  sense.  It  was  a  veritable  mudhole,  consisting  of 
two  wretched  streets  straggling  along  the  river  bank  and 
lined  with  the  flimsy  frame  and  log  structures  of  a  people 
too  eagerly  bent  upon  the  pursuit  of  success  to  squander 
time  or  expense  on  the  niceties  of  civilization.  It  was  the 
outfitting  place  for  the  thousands  of  emigrants  preparing 
to  take  the  long  trail  across  the  desert  and  mountains  for 
the  California  goldfields,  and  as  such  its  squalid  thorough- 
fares were  thronged  with  every  type  of  man,  from  the 


'*Mark  Twain"  at  the  Rudder 


earnest  home-seeker  to  the  desperado,  all  drawn  forth  by 
dazzling  dreams  of  wealth  to  be  gathered  in  that  far  El 
Dorado  beyond  the  Rockies. 

Fifteen  miles  above  Omaha  lay  Florence  Landing,  and 
forty  miles  below  that  of  Wyoming,  which  points  were  then 
the  places  of  rendezvous  for  the  caravans  of  Mormons 
moving  westward  to  their  newly  established  Promised 
Land  of  Deseret,  beside  the  dead  waters  of  the  Great  Salt 
Lake.  In  some  sense  outcasts  from  their  kind,  these 
peculiar  people  would  not  mingle  with  the  "  Gentiles "  in 
Omaha,  preferring  to  make  preparations  for  their  long 
journey  at  the  more  secluded  if  less  convenient  landings 
mentioned. 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  Marsh  changed  from  the 
Alonzo  Child  to  the  Hesperian,  Captain  F.  B.  Kercheval, 
and  went  out  with  her  on  a  late  trip  to  Omaha,  carrying 
freight  for  that  place  and  intermediate  points.  The  whole 
country  was  in  the  throes  of  a  financial  panic  at  that  time, 
due  to  the  deplorable  system  which  permitted  the  issue  of 
"wild-cat"  currency  by  irresponsible  banks.  When  the 
Hesperian  got  beyond  St.  Joseph,  it  was  found  that  the 
merchants  had  nothing  with  which  to  pay  the  freight 
charges  on  their  goods  except  paper  money.  At  some  of 
the  good  steamboat  landings,  speculators  were  found  who 
had  come  out  from  the  East  with  a  bale  of  "wild-cat" 
money  and,  going  into  camp,  had  opened  a  "bank." 
Captain  Kercheval  refused  to  accept  the  worthless  stuff, 
and  as  a  consequence  the  Hesperian  returned  to  St.  Louis 
with  her  cargo  nearly  intact.     At  only  two  places.  Council 

25 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Bluffs,  la.,  and  Forest  City,  Mo.,  was  gold  or  silver  offered 
in  payment  of  freight  charges,  and  at  those  places  the  mer- 
chants received  their  goods. 

When  cold  weather  put  an  end  to  navigation  on  the  Mis- 
souri, it  was  usual  for  many  of  the  boats  regularly  engaged 
there  to  enter  the  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  trade  during 
the  winter  months.  At  that  season  the  cold  weather  of 
the  North  and  Northwest  locks  the  headwaters  of  the 
Missouri  and  Mississippi  in  an  icy  grip  and  the  latter 
stream  falls  to  a  very  low  stage  below  St.  Louis,  compelling 
many  of  the  deeper  draught  steamers  to  lie  up  and  wait 
for  the  spring  freshets  to  raise  the  channel.  But  to  the 
light-draught  Missouri  River  boats,  built  for  service  on 
waters  normally  shoal  and  full  of  shifting  sandbars,  the 
low  stage  of  the  Mississippi  furnished  an  opportunity. 
Most  of  the  regular  packets  being  out  of  commission, 
freight  rates  rose  high  and  the  small  steamers  would  wait 
until  they  could  demand  a  dollar  a  barrel  for  transporting 
flour  to  New  Orleans  and  proportionate  rates  on  other 
merchandise,  and  then  load  for  the  metropolis  of  the  Gulf, 
certain  of  making  a  modest  fortune  on  each  trip. 

During  the  winter  of  1858-1859,  the  Missouri  River 
boat  of  which  Marsh  was  then  mate,  the  A.  B.  Cham- 
bers No.  2,  commanded  by  Captain  George  W.  Bowman, 
thus  became  engaged  in  the  New  Orleans  trade.  Before 
setting  out  from  St.  I^ouis,  two  Mississippi  River  pilots 
were  hired  to  take  her  down  to  New  Orleans.  One  of 
these,  James  C.  Delancey,  proved  unfortunate,  frequently 
running  the  boat  aground,  and  his  services  were  dispensed 

26 


PhotdKraph  l).v  S.  .1.  Mci  r-u 

StoaiiKT  Nellie  Peck  at  tlu-  Fort  Hciiton  Levw,  1872 

The  piles  of  freight  on  the  bank  give  some  idea  of  the 
commercial  importance  of  Fort  Benton  in  its  steam- 
boating  days. 


Steamer  Washburn.   Loaded  with  Sacked  NYlicat    at  tlie  Levee,  \Vaslil)iirii 
Nortli  Dakota.    1904 


''Mark   Twain'*  at  the  Rudder 


with  at  the  end  of  the  trip.*  But  the  second  pilot  of  the 
A.  B.  Chambers,  a  smooth-faced  young  fellow,  whose  quiet 
and  retiring  manner  did  not  prevent  his  being  very  popu- 
lar with  all  his  associates,  proved  a  most  excellent  navi- 
gator, knowing  his  river  thoroughly  and  possessing  the 
judgment  to  make  the  best  use  of  his  knowledge.  This 
young  man  was  familiarly  known  as  Sam  Clemens,  who 
has  since  become  the  most  famous  and  beloved  of  Ameri- 
can humorists,  "Mark  Twain."  An  incident  showing  his 
almost  instinctive  familiarity  with  the  snares  of  the  big 
river  occurred  while  the  A.  B.  Chambers  was  making  her 
second  trip  to  New  Orleans,  and  is  narrated  by  Captain 
Marsh  with  enjo}Tnent. 

The  weather  had  been  very  cold  and  on  the  day  that  the 
Chambers  set  out  from  St.  Louis,  masses  of  floating  ice 
filled  the  channel,  rendering  progress  difficult.  The  next 
afternoon,  when  about  165  miles  from  St.  Louis  and  two 
miles  below  the  town  of  Commerce,  Mo.,  the  boat  was 
hugging  the  shore  of  Power's  Island  to  avoid  the  grinding 
pack  of  the  mid-channel,  when  she  went  hard  aground  on 
the  foot  of  the  island.  No  efforts  availed  to  get  her  off  and 
soon  the  fuel  gave  out.  The  cabin  was  full  of  passengers 
and  the  lower  deck  laden  with  live  stock,  so  it  was  impera- 
tive that  she  should  be  floated  as  soon  as  possible. 

In  common  with  all  the  boats  of  her  day,  the  Chambers 

*  Whatever  his  errors  as  a  pilot  on  this  voyage,  however,  James  De- 
lancey  proved  himself  a  hero  a  few  years  later,  when,  as  captain  of  the 
Confederate  River  Defense  rani.  Colonel  Lovell,  in  the  naval  battle  before 
Memphis,  he  fought  his  vessel  until  she  went  down  with  colors  fljing, 
carrying  seventy  of  her  eighty-five  men  to  watery  graves. 

27 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


burned  wood  in  her  furnaces.  To  supply  the  demands 
of  traffic,  hundreds  of  woodyards  and  scores  of  flatboats 
were  scattered  along  the  banks  of  all  navigable  streams, 
but  it  so  happened  that  no  yard  was  near  the  point  where 
the  Chavibers  had  come  to  grief.  Therefore  Captain 
Bowman  instructed  the  mate  to  take  a  crew  in  the  yawl, 
return  to  Commerce  and  float  a  wood-flat  down,  Clemens 
going  with  him  to  navigate. 

To  keep  out  of  the  ice-filled  channel,  Clemens  crossed 
to  the  Illinois  shore  and  then  turned  upstream  through 
a  narrow  cut-off  between  Burnham's  Island  and  the  main 
bank.  This  cut-off  the  yawl  followed  to  the  head  of  the 
island,  near  the  town  of  Thebes,  111.,  across  the  river  from 
and  slightly  above,  Commerce.  The  river,  wide  above 
and  below,  was  here  very  narrow,  flowing  swiftly  between 
high  banks.  The  drifting  ice  frequently  jammed  in  the 
cut,  leaving  a  space  of  open  water  in  front,  until  the  vol- 
ume of  cakes  piling  up  behind  would  break  the  gorge  and 
the  whole  mass  come  sweeping  down  resistlessly.  To 
cross  a  small  boat  through  one  of  those  spaces  of  open 
water,  into  which  at  any  moment  the  grinding  cakes  might 
rush,  was  an  exceedingly  hazardous  undertaking,  but  there 
was  no  other  way  of  reaching  Commerce. 

With  anxious  eyes  the  little  party  in  the  yawl  scanned 
the  menacing  waters.  When  the  ice  lodged  above,  no 
man  could  tell  whether  it  would  remain  stationary  long 
enough  for  them  to  cross,  or  break  and  overwhelm  them 
in  mid-channel.  At  length  a  favorable  opportunity 
seemed  to  come  and  the  pilot  ordered  the  men  to  pull  for 

28 


^*Mark  Twain**  at  the  Rudder 


the  Missouri  shore.  They  had  gone  but  a  few  yards 
when  the  jam  broke  and  surged  down  upon  them. 

"Turn  back  quick,  Sam!"  shouted  Marsh  to  Clemens. 
"We'll  be  crushed." 

"No,"  answered  the  pilot  quietly,  watching  the  river 
and  continuing  to  hold  his  rudder  square.  "Go  ahead, 
as  fast  as  you  can." 

Putting  every  ounce  of  muscle  into  their  arms  the  crew 
rowed  on,  the  ice  seeming  to  open  before  them,  while 
between  them  and  the  shore  they  had  left,  it  closed  in  a 
seething  caldron.  Almost  miraculously  they  slipped 
through  and  reached  Commerce  in  safety,  though,  but  for 
Clemens,  Captain  Marsh  declares  the  lives  of  all  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  lost.  The  incident  occurred  many 
years  before  "  Mark  Twain "  became  world-famous,  but 
he  still  remembers  it  well  to-day*  as  one  of  the  exciting 
episodes  of  the  times  when  his  chief  ambition  was  to  be- 
come an  expert  steamboat  pilot.  He  and  Grant  Marsh 
grew  to  be  fast  friends  during  their  association  on  the 
A.  B.  Chambers  No.  2,  and  for  a  long  time  after  he  had 
left  the  river  and  entered  upon  his  literary  career,  they 
maintained  a  more  or  less  regular  correspondence. 

*  In  response  to  a  letter  requesting  his  recollection  of  this  incident, 
]Mr.  Clemens  kindlj'  communicated  with  the  author  regarding  it.  His 
remembrance  of  it  agrees  in  every  particular  with  that  of  Captain  Marsh, 
related  above. — J.  M.  H. 


29 


CHAPTER  V 

CUPID   AT   THE   "  APPLE-BUTTER   STIRRING" 

Down  there  in  the  valley,  house  lights  twinkle  out. 
Homeward-wending  cattle  low,  laughing  children  shout. 
While  those  two  stand  dreaming  of  another  home  to  be. 
Close  beside  the  river,  slipping  swiftly  toward  the  sea. 

A  MONG  the  shipmates  of  Grant  Marsh  during  the 
/-%  season  of  1860  was  a  young  "striker"  engineer* 
who  may  be  referred  to  here  as  Jonathan  Poore, 
though  that  was  not  the  name  by  which  his  friends  knew 
him.  He  was  an  industrious  lad  and  allowed  nothing  to 
deter  him  from  a  diligent  application  to  his  work,  but 
when  moments  of  idleness  overtook  him  he  could  think 
clearly  and  converse  fluently  upon  but  one  subject.  This 
subject  was  a  certain  young  lady  residing  in  St.  Louis, 
and  it  was  evident  from  his  glowing  descriptions  of  her 
that  he  thought  her  nothing  less  than  the  one  ideal  repre- 
sentative of  her  sex. 

Realizing  his  condition  of  mind,  his  comrades  on  the 
boat  for  a  time  patiently  submitted  to  his  interminable 
monologues  on  this  favorite  topic,  but  at  length  the  endur- 
ance of  all  became  exhausted  and  they  turned  upon  the 
love-sick  swain  in  open  protest.  That  is,  all  excepting 
*  An  engineer's  apprentice,  in  river  parlance. 

30 


Cupid  at  the  ''Apple-Butter  Stirring" 


Marsh,  who,  being  perhaps  of  a  more  tolerant  disposition 
than  the  average,  still  allowed  himself  to  be  used  as  an 
escape-valve  for  the  young  engineer's  pent-up  emotions. 
The  result  of  this  generosity  was  that  Poore  attached  him- 
self closely  to  his  sympathetic  listener  and  became  more 
communicative  than  ever.  Now  and  then  Marsh,  to 
relieve  himself,  would  laughingly  express  doubt  as  to  the 
young  lady  possessing  all  the  perfections  attributed  to  her 
by  her  admirer,  and  at  such  times  Poore  would  exclaim 
earnestly : 

"All  right.  Grant,  believe  it  or  not,  but  it's  so,  and  I 
wish  some  evening  when  we're  in  St.  Louis  you  would  go 
up  with  me  to  see  her  and  judge  for  yourself." 

The  family  of  which  the  young  lady  was  a  member 
belonged  to  a  colony  of  Pennsylvanians  which  had  moved 
to  St.  Louis  a  few  years  before,  bringing  with  them  all  the 
manners  and  customs  of  their  native  region.  Poore  and 
Marsh  were  both  from  the  same  section,  but  Marsh  had 
not  mingled  much  with  the  colonists  in  St.  Louis,  who 
naturally  maintained  close  social  intercourse  with  one 
another.  But  at  length,  late  in  the  autumn,  he  was  pre- 
vailed upon  by  Poore  to  accompany  him  to  his  lady's 
home.  The  mate's  curiosity  had  at  last  been  aroused 
and  he  desired  to  see  the  girl  who  had  stirred  such  a  tem- 
pest of  emotion  in  the  bosom  of  his  friend. 

Poore  sent  word  in  advance  of  their  coming,  and  she 
prepared  to  entertain  them  pleasantly  by  summoning  a 
few  of  her  friends  to  an  "  apple-butter  stirring."  This  was 
a  form  of  entertainment  very  popular  among  the  young 

31 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


people  of  Pennsylvania  at  that  time,  combining  work  with 
pleasure  in  a  manner  similar  to  the  "husking  bees"  and 
"quilting  parties"  of  other  sections.  It  was,  moreover, 
^s  easily  to  be  arranged  in  St.  Louis  as  in  Pennsylvania. 
\.  quantity  of  apples  would  be  prepared  beforehand,  and 
when  the  guests  arrived  they  would  find  the  apple-butter, 
which  had  already  been  cooking  for  a  long  time,  in  a  large 
kettle  over  the  fire,  just  approaching  its  final  stage  of 
preparation.  By  that  time  it  was  thick  and  heavy  and 
required  frequent  stirrings  with  a  large  ladle  to  keep  it 
from  burning.  Here  was  where  the  fun  came  in,  for  the 
ladle  was  too  large,  in  theory,  at  least,  to  be  handled  by 
one  person,  and  it  was  customary  for  the  girls  and  boys  in 
pairs  to  take  turns  in  stirring.  The  lady  always  had  the 
choice  of  a  partner  to  assist  her  when  her  turn  came,  and 
whichever  swain  she  selected  was  regarded  by  the  others 
as  her  favorite  "beau,"  he  and  she  both  being  subjected 
to  all  the  good-natured  banter  that  the  wits  of  the  assem- 
blage could  devise.  When  the  work  was  completed,  the 
guests  partook  of  as  much  of  the  fresh  apple-butter  as 
they  cared  for,  while  the  remainder  went  to  replenish  the 
home  larder  of  the  hostess. 

On  the  evening  set  for  the  entertainment  in  their  honor, 
the  young  steamboat  men  carefully  arrayed  themselves  in 
their  best  apparel  and  set  forth  to  the  lady's  home,  Jona- 
than in  an  ecstacy  of  anticipation.  Grant  possessed  merely 
by  a  mild  curiosity.  They  found  the  other  guests  already 
gathered,  but  the  hostess  met  them  at  the  door  with  a  gra- 
cious welcome,  and  the  engineer,  after  partially  recovering 

32 


Cupid  at  the  ** Apple-Butter  Stirring'' 

his  equilibrium,  introduced  his  companion.  But  upon 
looking  into  the  smiling  face  l)ef()re  him,  the  lord  of  the 
lower  deck  found  himself  all  at  once  bereft  of  that  easy 
flow  of  language  which  he  commanded  when  addressing 
the  roustabouts.  A  wave  of  admiration  and  embarrass- 
ment swept  over  him  which  left  him  almost  speechless, 
and  as  he  took  his  seat  among  the  others  and  furtively 
watched  his  hostess  chatting  with  Poore,  he  could  only 
repeat  to  himself  in  a  helpless  way: 

"Well,  Jonathan  certainly  has  good  taste." 

Never  before  had  the  thought  of  marriage  entered  his 
mind,  but  now  there  was  borne  in  upon  him  suddenly  a 
conviction  that  he  needed  a  wife  more  than  anything  else 
on  earth. 

At  length  the  time  came  for  stirring  and  Poore  proudly 
walked  up  to  the  kettle  with  his  hostess.  As  he  watched 
them  talking  and  laughing  confidentially,  their  hands  very 
close  together  on  the  big  ladle.  Grant  could  bear  the  sight 
no  longer.  Mustering  up  his  courage  with  a  more  des- 
perate effort  than  he  ever  found  necessary  in  later  years 
when  facing  the  bullets  of  Indians,  he  stepped  to  her  side 
and  while  Jonathan  frowned  at  him  across  the  kettle, 
tremblingly  whispered  in  her  ear: 

"Let's  you  and  I  stir  this  apple-butter  next  time." 

Instantly  she  turned  and  looked  searchingly  into  his 
eyes.     And  then,  with    a  dazzling  smile,  she  said  simply: 

"All  right." 

It  did  not  seem,  on  the  surface,  a  very  portentous  ex- 
change of  words,  but  it  was  one  of  those  moments  which 

33 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


come  in  life  when  words  count  for  little  and  unspoken 
thoughts  for  much.  At  all  events,  it  marked  the  end  to 
the  hopes  of  poor  Jonathan,  for  a  few  months  later  Grant 
moved  into  a  cozy  little  home  of  his  own,  a  married  man. 
And  the  wife  who  accompanied  him  there  and  who  for 
forty-six  long  years  was  to  walk  at  his  side,  faithfully  and 
lovingly  sharing  his  joys  and  sorrows,  his  triumphs  and 
disappointments,  was  the  girl  he  had  met  and  won  at  an 
old-fashioned,  Pennsylvania  "apple-butter  stirring." 


34 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   BATTLE   MORN    OF  SHILOH 

Rushing  the  foe  in  fury  ere  yet  his  ranks  can  form. 
Gulfing  his  scattered  field-guns  in  the  plunging  shraimeVs  storm. 
Charging  the  tumbled  earthworks  like  bolt  from  cross-bow  set. 
Clinching  the  bloody  triumph  with  the  savage  bayonet. 

IN  the  spring  following  Grant  Marsh's  marriage,  the 
terrible  tragedy  of  the  Civil  War  burst  upon  the 
country.  For  many  years  the  political  controversies 
between  North  and  South  had  been  growing  more  bitter 
until  a  resort  to  arms  became  inevitable.  The  men  who 
made  their  living  on  the  rivers  of  the  West  found  them- 
selves in  a  position  much  resembling  that  of  the  people  of 
the  border  States.  The  latter  were  torn  by  conflicting 
emotions  of  loyalty  to  the  Union  and  love  for  the  ideals 
and  institutions  of  the  South,  and  so  it  was  with  the 
steamboat  men.  Their  vocation  called  them  to  all  the 
regions  reached  by  the  Mississippi,  from  St.  Paul  to  New 
Orleans.  Among  their  friends  and  business  associates 
most  of  them  numbered  as  many  cotton  and  tobacco  plant- 
ers of  Tennessee  or  Louisiana  as  they  did  lumbermen  and 
farmers  of  Wisconsin  or  Illinois.  On  the  outbreak  of 
hostilities  it  was  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  as  many 
steamboat  men  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  young  Confed- 
eracy as  remained  true  to  the  Union. 

35 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


It  was  with  deep  regret  that  a  man  so  given  to  warm 
attachments  as  Grant  Marsh  saw  many  of  his  dearest 
friends  thus  turn  their  faces  from  the  old  flag  and  become 
its  enemies.  But  despite  his  sorrow  that  they  should  go, 
his  own  loyalty  to  the  Government  did  not  for  a  moment 
waver.  Though  he  dreaded  the  e£Fects  of  the  fratricidal 
war  on  those  of  the  South  who  were  dear  to  him,  he  held 
himself  ready  to  serve  the  Union  whenever  opportunity 
should  arise.  The  call  did  not  come  at  once,  but  in  the 
early  spring  of  1862  General  Grant  began  preparations 
for  moving  his  army  from  Fort  Donelson,  Tenn.,  which  he 
had  recently  captured,  southward  to  Pittsburg  Landing, 
on  the  Tennessee  River,  in  an  offensive  campaign  against 
General  Beauregard's  army  at  Corinth,  Miss.  For  the 
transportation  of  Grant's  forces,  an  immense  flotilla  of 
steamboats  was  gathered  at  St.  Louis.  The  fleet  consisted 
of  eighty-two  steamers,  among  them  being  the  John  J. 
Roe,  a  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans  packet,  one  of  the 
largest  on  the  river,  of  which  Grant  Marsh  was  mate. 

Before  leaving  St.  Louis  the  Roe  was  loaded  with  army 
supplies,  and  on  arriving  at  Fort  Donelson  she  took  on 
board  the  8th  Missouri  Infantry,  Colonel  Morgan  L. 
Smith,  and  the  11th  Indiana  Infantry,  Colonel  G.  F. 
McGinnis.  Both  of  these  regiments,  which  had  done 
heroic  service  in  the  fighting  about  Donelson,  belonged  to 
the  division  of  Major-General  Lew  Wallace,  who  accom- 
panied them  up  the  river  on  the  Roe.  When  the  two  regi- 
ments came  aboard,  they  filled  the  vessel  so  completely 
that  it  became  necessary  for  Captain  Simmons,  the  com- 

36 


The  Battle  Morn  oj  Shiloh 


missary  officer  in  charge  of  tlie  supplies  brought  from  St. 
Louis,  to  remove  his  goods  to  the  hold,  that  the  troops 
might  have  room.  The  shifting  of  cargo  vi^as  quickly  ac- 
complished, and  with  General  Wallace  in  military  com- 
mand, the  steamer  proceeded  on  her  way  up  the  Tennessee. 
The  John  J.  Roe  was  an  old  boat  and  had  long  borne 
the  reputation  of  being  a  slow  one.  Mark  Twain,  who 
saw  service  on  her  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  has 
made  some  characteristically  witty  observations  in  his 
"Life  on  the  Mississippi"  concerning  the  vessel's  lack 
of  speed.     He  says: 

"For  a  long  time  I  was  on  a  boat  that  was  so  slow  we  used 
to  forget  what  year  it  was  we  left  port  in.  But,  of  course,  this 
was  at  rare  intervals.  Ferryboats  used  to  lose  valuable  trips 
because  their  passengers  grew  old  and  died,  waiting  for  us  to 
get  by.  This  was  at  still  rarer  intervals.  I  had  the  documents 
for  these  occurrences,  but  through  carelessness  they  have  been 
mislaid.  This  boat,  the  John  J.  Roe,  was  so  slow  that  when  she 
finally  sank  in  Madrid  Bend,  it  was  five  years  before  the  owners 
heard  of  it.  That  was  always  a  confusing  fact  to  me,  but  it  is 
according  to  the  record,  anyway.  She  was  dismally  slow;  still, 
we  often  had  pretty  exciting  times  racing  with  islands,  and  rafts, 
and  such  things.  One  trip,  however,  we  did  rather  well.  We 
went  to  St.  Louis  in  sixteen  days.  But  even  at  this  rattling  gait 
I  think  we  changed  watches  three  times  in  Fort  Adams  reach, 
which  is  five  miles  long.  A  'reach'  is  a  piece  of  straight  river, 
and  of  course  the  current  drives  through  such  a  place  in  a  pretty 
lively  way." 

It  is  evident  from  the  above  that  the  crew  and  the 
numerous  passengers  of  the  John  J.  Roe  had  plenty  of 
time  for  enjoying  the  scenery  while  sailing  up  the  Ten- 
nessee from  Fort  Donelson.     But  the  voyage  was  not 

37 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


devoid  of  redeeming  features.  The  8th  Missouri  was 
composed  almost  entirely  of  St.  Louis  steamboat  men,  and 
its  officers  were  in  great  part  gentlemen  who  had  been 
passenger  agents  of  some  of  the  principal  packet  lines 
doing  business  there  before  the  war.  Among  these  were 
Colonel  Smith,  his  brother,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Giles  A. 
Smith,  and  Major  John  McDonald.  In  the  organization, 
therefore.  Mate  Marsh  found  many  old  friends  whose 
presence  served  to  make  the  journey  a  pleasant  one.  At 
Crump's  Landing,  a  point  about  four  miles  below  Pitts- 
burg, General  Wallace  debarked  with  his  troops.  The 
General  took  up  his  headquarters  on  the  stern-wheel 
packet  Jesse  K.  Bell,  which  was  lying  there  at  the  bank. 
A  number  of  other  regiments  of  his  division  had  already 
arrived  and  were  encamping,  and  the  scene  about  the  land- 
ing as  the  Roe  came  in  was  one  of  lively  martial  interest. 
After  clearing  her  crowded  decks  she  went  on  to  Pittsburg 
Landing,  near  which  the  greater  part  of  Grant's  forces 
were  in  position,  and  Captain  Baxter,  the  commissary 
officer  having  in  charge  all  the  water  transportation  of  the 
army,  assumed  control  of  the  boat  and  moved  his  office 
and  Clerks  on  board. 

It  was  now  late  in  March.  For  several  days  life  ran 
smoothly  on  the  many  steamers  gathered  there  along  the 
shores  of  the  Tennessee,  and  the  dangers  of  battle  seemed 
far  away.  Though  Beauregard  and  Albert  Sidney  John- 
ston were  concentrating  their  forces  at  Corinth,  eighteen 
miles  distant,  preparatory  to  their  momentous  advance 
upon   Shiloh   Church  and   Pittsburg,   inside  the   Union 

38 


The  Battle  Morn  of  Shiloh 


lines  nothing  was  known  of  their  movements  and  appar- 
ently no  preparations  were  being  made  for  receiving  them. 
At  length  one  day  there  came  up  from  Cincinnati  to  join 
the  fleet  the  side-wheel  steamer  Madison,  having  in  tow 
a  large  model  barge  loaded  with  new  army  wagons.  The 
Madison  made  her  charge  fast  to  the  bank  at  Savannah,  a 
small  town  seven  miles  below  Pittsburg  and  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  river,  where  the  main  commissary  depot  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  located.  Here  one  night  the 
water  fell  and  left  the  barge  high  and  dry  on  the  shore. 
She  was  a  valuable  craft  and  Captain  Baxter  instructed 
Mate  Marsh  and  Carpenter  Frank  Borden,  of  the  John 
J.  Roe,  to  go  down  and  work  her  off  the  bank,  detailing  a 
detachment  of  the  14th  Wisconsin  Infantry  under  Lieu- 
tenant Fox  to  assist  them. 

The  release  of  the  barge  proved  a  rather  difficult  task, 
and  a  number  of  days  were  consumed  in  the  work.  INIean- 
while  the  party  thus  engaged  had  frequent  opportunity 
for  seeing  General  Grant,  the  quiet,  self-possessed  man 
who  was  in  chief  command  of  the  army,  and  whose  name 
was  already  famous  throughout  the  country  by  reason  of 
his  brilliant  victory  at  Fort  Donelson.  The  General's 
headquarters  were  in  the  Cherry  mansion,  a  large  brick 
house  in  Savannah  standing  within  sight  of  the  stranded 
barge,  and  he  often  appeared  on  the  river  bank,  going  to 
or  returning  from  the  private  boat  on  which  he  made  his 
daily  visits  to  the  army  at  Pittsburg.  This  boat  was  a 
small,  side-wheel,  Ohio  River  packet  named  the  Tigress, 
and  was  commanded  by  Captain  Perkins.     Before  the  war 

39 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


she  had  been  accustomed  to  go  to  the  lower  Mississippi 
during  the  winter  months  and  there  engage  in  the  cotton 
trade,  and  she  was  regarded  as  a  speedy  boat  for  her  class. 

On  the  evening  of  Saturday,  the  5th  day  of  April,  the 
work  of  restoring  the  barge  to  the  water  had  been  nearly 
completed,  and  Mate  Marsh  and  his  assistants  retired  that 
night  expecting  to  complete  their  labors  next  day.  No 
news  had  come  of  a  disturbing  nature  and  all  was  quiet 
along  the  wide  front  of  the  army.  But  when  they  awoke 
at  dawn  it  was  to  hear  the  morning  air  throbbing  with 
sounds  which  drove  all  thought  of  the  barge  from  their 
minds.  It  was  the  roar  of  artillery  beating  down  from 
Pittsburg  Landing,  seven  miles  away,  while  in  the  clus- 
tered infantry  camps  about  Savannah  arose  a  turmoil  of 
excited  preparation.  Marsh  and  Borden  threw  on  their 
clothes  and  ran  to  the  river  bank,  where  in  the  first  dim 
flush  of  dawn  the  Tigress,  with  steam  up,  lay  fretting  at  the 
landing.  Just  as  they  arrived.  General  Grant  and  his 
staff  and  orderlies,  all  mounted,  came  clattering  down  the 
bank  and  rode  aboard.  The  two  steamboat  men,  con- 
sidering, simply  and  loyally,  that  at  such  a  time  their 
place  was  with  the  John  J.  Roe,  scrambled  aboard  also, 
and  in  a  moment  the  lines  were  cast  off,  and  the  Tigress, 
trembling  in  every  timber,  was  rushing  away  up  the  river. 

General  Grant  had  dismounted  from  his  big  buckskin 
horse  and  seated  himself  in  a  chair  on  the  boiler  deck  near 
the  front  stairs.  Here,  surrounded  by  his  staff,  he  calmly 
listened  to  the  roar  of  battle.  The  boat  had  proceeded 
but  a  mile  or  two  when  she  met  the  steamer  John  Warner 

40 


The  Battle  Morn  of  Shiloh 


racing  downstream.  The  Warner  hailed,  and  on  both 
boats  slowing  down,  a  lieutenant  hurried  on  board  the 
Tigress,  bearing  a  dispatch  from  General  Stephen  A. 
Hurlbut  to  General  Grant.  Hurlbut  was  in  command  of 
one  of  the  five  hard-pressed  divisions  now  hotly  engaged 
near  Shiloh  Church  with  Hardee's  and  Bragg's  advance. 
Marsh  was  standing  near  Grant  when  the  staff-officer 
handed  the  latter  his  dispatch  and  verbally  reported  that 
the  enemy  were  massed  in  great  numbers  all  along  the 
front  and  were  driving  the  army  back  on  the  river.  With 
perfect  composure  Grant  read  Hurlbut 's  message  and 
listened  to  the  remarks  of  the  bearer.  He  did  not  move 
from  his  chair,  and  his  only  comment  was  to  the  effect 
that  when  he  arrived  he  would  surround  the  enemy. 

Leaving  the  Warner  behind,  the  Tigress  resumed  her 
headlong  course,  but  at  Crump's  Landing,  in  obedience 
to  an  order  from  the  General,  she  again  slowed  down  and 
went  to  the  bank  alongside  the  Jesse  K.  Bell,  where  Grant 
and  Wallace,  standing  on  their  respective  boats,  held  a 
short  conversation.  Wallace  inquired  what  Grant's  or- 
ders were  for  him.  The  Commander  replied  that  he 
should  remain  at  Crump's,  holding  his  division  ready  to 
march,  and  would  receive  his  orders  from  the  field.  Mate 
Marsh  did  not  note  the  exact  hour  at  which  this  brief 
exchange  of  words  occurred,  but  Grant  has  stated  it  at 
about  eight  o'clock  A.  M.,  while  Wallace  placed  it  at 
about  nine.  The  events  following  it  gave  rise  to  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  controversies  of  the  war,  for  when 
Wallace  did  receive  his  orders  he  marched  for  the  front  by 

41 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  wrong  road,  had  to  be  recalled  and  did  not  arrive  on 
the  field  in  time  for  his  division  to  be  of  any  service  in  the 
first  day's  fighting.  Grant  blamed  him  for  mistaking  his 
road,  while  Wallace  contended  that  he  took  the  only  road 
he  had  been  expected  to  take  and  the  disputed  point  was 
not  settled  between  the  two  noted  soldiers  for  many  years.* 

The  delay  was  but  for  a  moment  or  two,  and  the  Tigress 
then  backed  out  into  the  stream  and  did  not  again  halt  until 
Pittsburg  Landing  was  reached.  Here  General  Grant  and 
his  party  hurriedly  mounted  and  took  their  departure.  It 
was  the  last  time  that  Grant  Marsh  ever  saw  the  dis- 
tinguished commander,  and  the  scene  was  indelibly  im- 
pressed upon  his  memory  as  the  General  rode  away  up  the 
smoke-shrouded  hill  into  the  turmoil  of  battle  to  rescue 
his  disorganized  army  from  impending  destruction. 

About  the  landing  everything  was  in  an  uproar  as  the 
Tigress  came  in.  The  fight  seemed  to  be  raging  just 
beyond  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  shells  were  bursting  over 
the  woods  and  river.  A  little  way  upstream  lay  the 
wooden  gunboats  Lexington  and  Tyler,  impatiently  waiting 
an  opportunity  to  open  fire  with  their  deadly  64-pounders 
which  later  in  the  day  did  so  much  to  repulse  the  last  des- 
perate assaults  of  the  Confederate  columns.  The  river 
bank  was  crowded  with  a  confusion  of  wounded  soldiers, 
stragglers  and  commissary  guards,  staff-officers  and  steam- 
boat men,  for  this  was  the  rear  of  the  army,  the  base  of 
ammunition  supply,  and  the  furthest  point  to  which  the 

*  For  a  more  extended  discussion  of  the  matter,  by  General  Grant 
and  others,  see  Vol.  I,  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War." 


42 


The  Battle  Morn  oj  SJtiloh 


waves  of  panic  could  roll,  here  finding  a  barrier  which 
proved  insurmountable.  On  the  morning  of  April  6th, 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  truly  in  a  perilous  position, 
with  an  exultant  enemy  pounding  along  its  front,  and  the 
river  in  its  rear.  But  help  was  near  at  hand.  The  ad- 
vance of  General  Don  Carlos  Buell's  Army  of  the  Ohio, 
marching  from  Nashville,  had  already  reached  Savannah 
the  day  before,  and  if  these  fresh  troops  could  be  brought 
upon  the  field  in  time,  defeat  might  yet  be  turned  to  victory. 

Marsh  and  Borden  found  the  John  J.  Roe  lying  at  the 
landing  with  steam  up,  and  immediately  after  their  arrival 
she  received  orders  to  go  up  to  Savannah  after  troops.  All 
that  long,  bloody  Sunday,  while  the  waves  of  battle  surged 
to  and  fro  through  the  scrub-oak  thickets  about  Shiloh, 
she  continued  this  work,  making  several  round  trips 
between  Savannah  and  Pittsburg.  After  one  of  these  trips, 
and  while  she  was  debarking  a  load  of  troops  at  Pittsburg, 
the  steamer  Fort  Wayne  came  in  to  the  landing  near  her, 
bringing  a  cargo  of  pontoon  boats  from  Cincinnati.  At 
the  moment  of  her  arrival,  Mate  Marsh  noticed  an  officer 
of  General  Buell's  army  standing  on  the  bank,  whose  nerve 
had  been  badly  shaken  by  the  events  of  the  day.  This 
officer  no  sooner  caught  sight  of  the  Fort  Wayne  than  he 
shouted  excitedly  to  her  commander: 

"For  God's  sake.  Captain,  land  and  get  those  pontoons 
in  position  so  that  the  army  can  cross  the  river!" 

Such  an  action  at  that  critical  time  would  have  been  a 
disastrous  blunder,  but  it  fortunately  happened  that  General 
Rawlins,  of  Grant's  staff,  was  also  on  the  bank,  directing  the 

43 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


arriving  troops  to  their  positions  on  the  field.  He  heard  the 
appeal  of  the  frightened  officer  of  Buell's  command,  and 
shaking  his  finger  at  the  captain  of  the  Fort  Wayne,  cried : 

"You  take  your  boat  away  from  the  landing  and  keep 
her  away  or  I  will  burn  her  up.     Do  you  understand?  " 

It  was  obvious  that  Rawlins  was  by  no  means  whipped, 
and  his  peremptory  order  was  promptly  obeyed.  He  was 
at  the  landing  through  most  of  that  eventful  day,  and  did 
much  to  maintain  order  there.  Another  instance  of  his 
cool  courage  was  witnessed  by  Mate  Marsh  a  few  moments 
after  the  Fort  Wayne,  with  her  undesirable  cargo,  had 
retired  from  the  bank.  There  was  lying  at  the  landing 
a  small  stern-wheel  boat  named  the  Rocket,  Captain  John 
Wolf,  having  in  tow  two  barges  loaded  with  ammunition. 
A  line  of  army  wagons  was  engaged  in  hauling  these  from 
the  river  up  to  the  battle  field.  Presently  a  shell  swooped 
down  and  burst  close  to  one  of  the  barges.  This  was  too 
much  for  Captain  Wolf.  He  yelled  to  his  mate  to  cut  the 
lines  and  commenced  backing  the  Rocket  out.  General 
Rawlins  saw  her  going  and,  hurrying  over,  shouted  to  the 
captain  to  come  back  or  he  would  shoot  every  man  on 
the  boat.  The  Rocket  came  back  very  expeditiously,  and 
made  no  further  attempt  to  run  away. 

Another  man  who  aroused  the  lively  admiration  of 
Grant  Marsh  on  that  day  was  a  young  private  on  board 
the  Roe  named  E.  P.  Wilcox,  one  of  Captain  Baxter's 
commissary  clerks.  Once  during  the  afternoon,  as  the 
Roe  lay  at  Pittsburg,  young  Wilcox  was  standing  on  the 
bank  with  a  manifest  in  hand,  checking  a  pile  of  com- 

44 


The  Battle  Morn  of  Shiloh 


missary  goods.  While  thus  engaged,  a  shell  came  down 
and  decapitated  a  cavalryman  within  a  few  feet  of  him. 
Wilcox  scarcely  even  glanced  up,  but,  undisturbed,  con- 
tinued his  work  as  if  the  perils  of  battle  were  a  thousand 
miles  away.  After  the  fight.  Marsh  did  not  see  the  plucky 
private  again  during  the  war.  But  one  day  nearly  ten 
years  later,  his  Missouri  River  packet  steamed  up  to  the 
landing  at  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  and  the  captain  saw,  stand- 
ing on  the  levee,  a  man,  at  sight  of  whose  face  there  swept 
over  him  in  a  rush  of  recollection  all  the  fierce  excitement 
of  that  long-past  battle  Sunday  at  Shiloh.  He  hastened 
to  the  bank  and  grasped  the  hand  of  Wilcox.  The  latter 
was  surprised  at  the  warmth  of  his  greeting,  for  he  did  not 
at  first  recognize  the  captain,  but  his  memory  was  soon 
refreshed,  and  they  enjoyed  a  long  talk  over  old  times. 
When  the  captain's  boat  pulled  out  up  river,  Wilcox  was 
aboard  and  went  with  her  to  Yankton,  Dakota,  then 
Marsh's  home.  There  he  concluded  to  establish  himself, 
and  there  to-day  he  still  resides,  one  of  the  town's  most 
respected  citizens. 

By  Sunday  evening  a  large  number  of  troops  had  arrived 
on  the  river  bank  opposite  Pittsburg,  and  all  that  night 
and  next  morning  the  John  J.  Roe  and  her  consorts  spent 
in  ferrying  the  divisions  of  Nelson  and  Crittenden  to  the 
west  shore.  Throughout  the  night  a  rain  was  falling  so 
heavily  as  to  amount  almost  to  a  cloudburst,  adding  much 
to  the  difficulty  of  the  movement,  and  the  river  rose  eight 
feet  before  dawn.  Nevertheless,  the  work  went  on  with- 
out interruption,  on  one  trip  the  capacious  Roe  carrying 

45 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


over  an  entire  brigade  at  a  single  crossing.  General 
Thomas  L.  Crittenden  himself  went  on  this  trip.  It  was 
the  first  time  Marsh  had  ever  seen  the  well-known  com- 
mander, but  they  were  destined  to  come  into  frequent 
intercourse  in  after  years  on  the  upper  Missouri,  where 
Crittenden,  as  colonel  of  the  17th  United  States  Infantry, 
was  for  a  long  time  stationed  during  the  Indian  wars. 
His  only  son,  Lieutenant  J.  J.  Crittenden,  fell  with  Cus- 
ter's ill-fated  command  at  the  Little  Big  Horn,  where 
Captain  Marsh  also  rendered  such  conspicuous  service. 

With  the  superiority  of  numbers  established  by  Buell's 
providential  arrival.  Grant  was  able  to  assume  the  offen- 
sive on  Monday,  April  7th,  and  speedily  drove  the  Con- 
federates from  the  field.  The  steamboats  continued 
bringing  up  additional  reenforcements  during  most  of 
the  day,  the  Roe  taking,  along  with  others,  from  Savannah 
to  Pittsburg,  Colonel  Hassendeubel's  famous  17th  Mis- 
souri Infantry,  one  of  the  many  regiments  raised  during 
the  war  from  among  the  loyal  Germans  of  St.  Louis.  By 
afternoon  the  Confederate  forces  had  all  withdrawn  in 
the  direction  of  Corinth,  and  the  great  battle  was  over. 

Early  next  morning  Mate  Marsh  and  some  of  his  ship- 
mates set  out  through  the  woods  to  find  the  8th  Missouri, 
and  learn  how  their  friends  in  that  regiment  had  fared. 
They  had  walked  a  mile  or  more  from  the  river,  finding 
the  way  strewn  with  many  dead  and  wounded  men  to 
remind  them  of  the  dreadful  struggle  just  over,  when  to 
their  consternation  a  volley  of  musketry  suddenly  crashed 
out  close  at  hand.     The  officers  of  the  regiment  through 

46 


The  Battle  Morn  of  Shiloh 


whose  bivouac  they  were  passing,  sprang  to  their  feet, 
shouting  to  their  men; 

"Fall  in,  boys!     Fall  in!" 

For  a  few  moments,  while  the  troops  were  forming,  con- 
fusion reigned,  for  every  one  believed  the  enemy  had 
returned  to  the  attack.  Then  word  was  passed  that  the 
volley  had  been  fired  by  an  adjacent  command  merely  to 
empty  their  muskets  of  wet  cartridges,  and  amid  a  chorus 
of  relieved  laughter  and  jokes,  the  battle-line  dissolved 
again. 

That  night  the  John  J.  Roe  started  down  river  with  600 
wounded  men  on  board,  principally  Indianians,  who  were 
conveyed  to  Evansville.  The  remainder,  being  Missouri 
troops,  were  taken  on  to  St.  Louis.  The  next  summer 
Grant  Marsh  participated  in  some  of  the  operations  of 
the  army  in  Arkansas,  and  for  a  time  his  boat  again  had 
on  board  the  17th  Missouri,  whose  gallant  commander. 
Colonel  Hassendeubel,  was  mortally  wounded  a  few 
months  later  before  Vicksburg.  Marsh's  vessel  was  pres- 
ent at  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  River  when,  on  July  1st, 
1862,  the  Gulf  Squadron  under  Flag-Officer  David  G. 
Farragut,  and  the  Mississippi  Flotilla  commanded  by 
Flag-Officer  Charles  H.  Davis,  were  united  there  by  the 
action  of  the  Gulf  Squadron  in  running  the  Vicksburg 
batteries.  But  he  was  soon  ordered  North,  and  missed 
by  a  few  days  the  spectacular  engagement  which  occurred 
when  the  Confederate  ram  Arkansas,  defiantly  steamed 
out  of  the  Yazoo  and,  passing  through  the  entire  Union 
fleet  at  anchor,  made  her  way  safely  to  Vicksburg. 

47 


CHAPTER  VII 

BARBARISM   AT   BAY 

The  whoop  of  the  hostile  at  midnight. 

The  glare  of  the  flaming  log  shack, 
A  beacon  of  hate  and  destruction 

As  we  flee,  with  the  foe  on  our  track. 

GRANT  MARSH'S  interesting  experiences  in  the 
Civil  War  were  now  over,  but  the  spring  of  1864 
found  him  serving  his  country  quite  as  effectively 
in  a  territory  far  removed  from  the  battle  grounds  of  Dixie, 
for  it  was  then  that  he  first  ascended  to  the  regions  of  the 
upper  Mijssouri,  where  he  was  to  remain  for  so  long  and 
be  identified  with  so  many  stirring  and  momentous  events. 
In  the  year  1864  the  Government  was  engaged  in  prose- 
cuting a  vigorous  campaign  against  the  hostile  Indian 
tribes  of  the  Northwest  who,  since  the  Minnesota  massa- 
cres of  1862,  had  united  in  a  desperate  effort  to  prevent 
the  people  of  the  United  States  from  encroaching  further 
upon  their  hunting  grounds.  Up  to  the  commencement 
of  the  gold  rush  to  California  in  1849,  both  the  Comanche 
and  Arapahoe  Indians  of  the  South  and  the  numerous 
tribes  comprised  in  the  great  Sioux  Nation  of  the  North, 
had  remained  practically  at  peace  with  the  whites,  for 
the  reason  that  they  were  left  in  undisturbed  possession 
of  their  vast  domains,  stretching  from  the  Mississippi  and 

48 


I 


Barbarism  at  Bay 


the  western  borders  of  Missouri  on  the  east  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains  on  the  west,  and  from  the  British  border  to 
the  Rio  Grande,  north  and  south.  Previous  to  that  time 
these  Indians  of  the  plains  had  maintained  no  intercourse 
with  the  white  race  save  along  the  frontiers  of  settlement 
and  with  those  few  and  scattering  adventurers  who  came 
among  them  as  peaceful  and  conciliatory  traders  and  trap- 
pers. But  when  the  flood  of  emigration  to  California  set 
in,  cutting  its  resistless  way  up  the  valley  of  the  Platte  and 
across  what  is  now  Wyoming,  through  the  very  heart  of 
their  ancestral  empire,  it  was  like  the  thrust  of  a  lance 
into  their  vitals,  and  they  commenced  relentless  warfare 
upon  the  emigrants. 

Their  conduct  caused  the  Government  to  exert  its 
power,  and  military  posts  were  established  along  the  line 
of  travel.  At  Fort  Laramie,  in  1851,  a  treaty  was  made 
with  most  of  the  principal  tribes  which  was  so  skilfully 
drawn  that  for  a  few  years  the  animosity  of  the  Indians 
was  lulled  and  they  permitted  the  emigrant  trains  to  pass 
through  their  territory  with  comparatively  little  inter- 
ference. Then  a  trifling  incident  led  to  the  massacre  of 
Lieutenant  Grattan  and  his  detachment  near  Fort  Lara- 
mie, in  1854,  and  the  speedy  punishment  of  the  murderers 
by  General  Harney,  who  inflicted  a  crushing  defeat  upon 
them  at  Ash  Hollow,  Nebraska,  in  the  following  year. 
After  the  battle.  General  Harney  moved  with  his  troops 
to  Fort  Pierre,  on  the  Missouri  River,  a  fur  trading  post 
which  the  Government  had  recently  purchased  from  the 
American  Fur  Company.     Here  he  spent  the  winter  of 

49 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


1855-56,  pacifying  and  making  new  treaties  with  the  dis- 
turbed tribes,  and  the  next  spring  moved  194  miles  down 
the  river  and  estabhshed  Fort  Randall,  which  continued 
for  some  time  to  be  occupied  as  the  most  advanced  mili- 
tary post  of  the  Missouri  Valley. 

Faith  in  General  Harney's  treaties  and  the  presence  of 
the  troops  at  Fort  Randall  combined  for  several  years  to 
keep  the  Sioux  on  their  good  behavior.  But  in  1862  sev- 
eral causes  operated  to  produce  an  outbreak  which  in 
extent  and  ferocity  exceeded  anything  in  the  history  of 
Indian  warfare.  The  first  and  most  potent  cause  was  the 
growing  dissatisfaction  of  the  Indians  with  the  manner  in 
which  their  treaty  annuities  were  distributed.  These  con- 
sisted of  goods,  such  as  clothing  and  food,  a  certain  quan- 
tity of  which  were  to  be  distributed  to  them  annually  for 
a  stated  number  of  years  as  payment  for  the  great  tracts 
of  land  which  from  time  to  time  they  had  ceded  to  the 
Government.  The  distribution  of  the  annuity  goods  was 
put  in  the  charge  of  agents  who,  in  many  instances,  shame- 
fully abused  their  trust.  The  Indians,  seldom  receiving 
more  than  a  fraction  of  the  supplies  to  which  by  treaty 
they  were  justly  entitled,  year  by  year  became  more  in- 
censed and  more  distrustful  of  the  Government,  until  a 
time  came  when  they  waited  only  a  favorable  opportunity 
for  venting  their  anger  in  open  hostility. 

With  the  commencement  of  the  Civil  War  in  the  United 
States  the  opportunity  seemed  to  arise.  Stories  of  the 
imminent  overthrow  of  the  Government  and  of  the  weak- 
ness of  frontier  settlements  due  to  the  dispatch  of  volun- 

50 


Barbarism  at  Bay 


teers  to  the  south,  were  industriously  circulated  among 
the  Indians  by  interested  parties,  some,  perhaps,  from  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  many,  certainly,  from  the  British 
settlements  and  trading  posts  in  the  valley  of  the  Red 
River  of  the  North.  The  Indians  of  the  Minnesota 
Valley,  after  much  hesitation,  finally  took  the  warpath  in 
August,  1862,  and  immediately  all  the  tribes  of  Minnesota 
and  Dakota  Territory,  with  a  few  exceptions,  blazed  forth 
into  fierce  revolt.  A  thousand  settlers,  men,  women,  and 
children,  were  massacred  in  Minnesota  before  the  savages 
were  checked.  They  were  then  driven  north  to  the 
vicinity  of  Devil's  Lake  by  General  H.  H.  Sibley,  and 
would  doubtless  have  been  pursued  even  farther  had  not 
the  advent  of  winter  put  an  end  to  military  operations  for 
that  year. 

During  the  cold  season  the  Indians  prepared  for  the 
next  summer  by  recruiting  and  solidifying  their  forces, 
and  when  spring  opened  they  presented  a  strong  and 
united  opposition  to  the  columns  sent  against  them. 
From  the  valley  of  the  Minnesota  General  Sibley  again 
moved  toward  Devil's  Lake  and  the  upper  Dakota  River, 
with  the  purpose  of  driving  them  westward  to  the  Missouri, 
while  General  Alfred  Sully  with  another  force  ascended 
the  latter  stream  to  intercept  their  retreat.  Sibley  defeated 
them  in  three  successive  engagements  between  the  Dakota 
and  the  Missouri,  but  owing  to  the  fact  that  low  water 
detained  the  steamboats  on  which  his  supplies  were  em- 
barked. Sully  was  unable  to  accomplish  his  part  of  the 
plan.     The  Indians  made  good  their  retreat  to  the  west 

51 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


bank  of  the  Missouri,  and  it  was  a  month  later  before 
Sully  reached  their  crossing  place.  Meantime  the  Min- 
nesota expedition  had  begun  retiring  toward  its  starting 
point,  and  the  Indians,  still  unbroken  in  spirit,  had  re- 
crossed  the  Missouri  and  followed  it.  Sully,  ascertaining 
their  movements,  pursued  them  in  turn,  defeating  them 
in  a  pitched  battle  at  Whitestone  Hill,  Dakota,  though  he 
and  Sibley  were  unable  to  make  such  dispositions  as  to 
catch  and  crush  their  elusive  enemy.  Again  the  approach 
of  cold  weather  compelled  the  abandonment  of  field 
operations,  and  General  Sully  moved  down  the  Missouri 
to  a  point  on  the  east  bank  some  four  miles  below  the 
present  city  of  Pierre,  South  Dakota,  where  he  established 
Fort  Sully  and  maintained  a  garrison  through  the  winter. 
Fort  Randall  thus  ceased  to  be  the  most  advanced  post 
of  the  valley. 


52 


CHAPTER  VIII 

WITH  SULLY    INTO   THE   SIOUX   LANDS 

We  are  waging  a  war  for  a  new  land. 

As  the  East  wages  war  for  the  old. 
That  the  mountains  and  plains  of  the  red  man's  domains 

May  be  brought  to  Coluvibia's  fold. 

WITH  the  advent  of  warm  weather  in  1864  it  was 
determined  to  send  another  strong  expedition 
under  General  Sully  into  the  hostile  country, 
in  an  endeavor  to  bring  the  Indians  to  final  subjection.  A 
number  of  steamboats  were  required  for  the  transporta- 
tion of  supplies,  and  it  was  as  mate  of  one  of  these,  the 
Marcella,  commanded  by  Captain  Sousley,  that  Grant 
Marsh  made  his  first  trip  to  the  upper  river.  The  boats 
were  gathered  at  St.  Louis  and  included,  beside  the 
Marcella,  the  Sam  Gaty,  Captain  Silver;  the  Chippewa 
Falls,  Captain  Hutchison;  the  General  Grant,  Captain 
Packard;  the  Isabella,  Captain  Dozier;  the  Tempest; 
the  Alone,  Captain  Rea;  and  the  Island  City,  Captain 
Lamont;*  eight  steamers  in  all. 

*  No  history  seems  ever  to  have  been  written  of  this  campaign,  even 
in  the  form  of  official  reports,  which  makes  more  than  the  most  casual 
reference  to  the  part  played  by  tlie  steamboats.  In  addition  to  the  in- 
formation derived  from  Captain  Marsh,  the  author  has  received  much 
assistance  from  Captain  Alexander  Lamont,  formerly  commander  of 
the  Island  City,  in  preparing  the  present  chapter  and  especially  in  ascer- 
taining the  names  of  the  boats  and  their  captains. — J.  M.  H. 

53 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


The  Missouri  River  habitually  has  two  seasons  of  high 
water  during  the  year;  the  first  in  April,  occasioned  by 
the  melting  snows  and  spring  rains  of  the  lower  valley; 
the  second  in  June,  to  which  the  breaking  of  winter  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  contributes,  flooding  the  sources  of  the 
stream.  Sometimes  a  late  spring  in  the  lower  valley  or 
an  early  one  in  the  mountains  will  release  their  accumula- 
tions of  surplus  water  simultaneously,  and  then  floods  of 
greater  or  less  magnitude  are  the  usual  result.  Sometimes, 
on  the  contrary,  light  snow-falls  during  the  cold  season 
prevent  the  water  attaining  great  height  during  either 
period.  It  was  the  latter  condition  which  obtained  in  the 
spring  of  1864.  The  river  remained  low  through  April, 
and  the  Marcella  and  her  consorts  were  unable  to  reach 
Sioux  City,  Iowa,  until  June.  By  the  time  this  point  was 
attained  the  river  had  again  fallen,  and  owing  to  the 
dangers  of  snags  and  sandbars,  slow  progress  was  made 
to  Fort  Sully.  Early  in  July,  however,  the  fort  was 
reached,  and  a  number  of  troops  who  had  wintered  there 
were  taken  on  board.  The  fleet  then  proceeded  about 
240  miles  farther  to  a  point  on  the  right,  or  west,  bank  of 
the  Missouri  above  the  mouth  of  Cannon  Ball  River, 
where  Fort  Rice  was  established  as  a  base  of  operations. 

Leaving  a  garrison  of  five  companies  here.  General 
Sully  with  the  remainder  of  his  troops  started  westward  in 
search  of  the  hostiles,  who  were  reported  to  be  assembled 
in  one  great  camp  somewhere  near  the  headwaters  of 
Heart  River.  He  took  with  him  supplies  enough  for  only 
about  three  weeks,  his  intention  being,  after  attacking  the 

54 


With  Sully  Into  the  Sioux  Lands 

Indians,  to  march  across  to  the  old  trading  post  at  the 
Brasseau  Houses  on  the  Yellowstone  River,  fifty  miles 
above  the  mouth,  where  he  instructed  some  of  his  steam- 
ers to  meet  him  with  supplies.*  The  force  with  which 
General  Sully  started  consisted  of  about  2,200  men, 
chiefly  cavalry,  divided  into  two  brigades,  and  under  their 
escort  there  marched  also  an  emigrant  train  of  about  150 
persons  headed  by  Captain  Fisk,  and  bound  for  the  newly 
discovered  Wind  River  goldfields  of  Western  Montana. 

The  expedition  moved  up  the  Cannon  Ball  to  its  sources 
and  thence  across  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Heart,  where 
the  scouts  learned  that  the  Indian  camp  lay  to  the  north- 
westward, near  the  Little  Missouri.  Parking  the  emigrant 
and  supply  trains  under  a  heavy  guard,  the  main  body 
advanced  by  forced  marches,  and  on  the  early  morning  of 
July  28th,  came  in  contact  with  the  enemy  on  the  edge  of  a 
region  of  precipitous  and  heavily-wooded  hills  called 
Tahkahokuty,  or  Killdeer,  Mountain.  The  Indians  were 
in  great  force,  there  being  some  1,600  lodges  in  the  camps 
among  the  hills  and  fully  6,000  warriors  to  offer  battle  ;| 
these  were  from  the  Uncpapa,  Sans  Arcs,  Blackfoot,  Min- 
neconjoux,  Yanktonais  and  Santee  tribes.  But  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  they  had  ample  warning  of  his 
approach  and  even  attacked  him  on  the  open  prairie 
while  still  several  miles  from  their  main  positions.  Sully 
completely  defeated  and  routed  them,  capturing  nearly  all 

*  OfRcial  report  of  General  Sully. 

t  Sully's  estimate.  Doane  Robinson,  in  his  "History  of  the  Dakota 
or  Sioux  Indians,"  declares  it  to  be  ridiculously  high  and  that  there 
were  not  above  1.600  warriors  present. — J.  M.  H. 

55 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


their  camp  equipage  and  great  stores  of  food.  From  the 
battle  ground  he  hastened  back  to  his  trains  on  Heart 
River  and  immediately  set  out  for  the  Yellowstone,  as  his 
supplies  were  already  running  perilously  low. 

The  march  of  the  column  through  the  Bad  Lands  of 
the  Little  Missouri  proved  extremely  slow  and  arduous 
and  was  attended  with  more  strange  and  unusual  hard- 
ships of  savage  warfare  and  inhospitable  Nature  than  often 
fall  to  the  lot  of  military  expeditions  even  in  a  wilderness 
land.  The  region  was  of  volcanic  origin,  covered  with 
blackened  scoria  and  wastes  of  broken  rock.  When  Gen- 
eral Sully,  standing  upon  its  brink,  beheld  that  forbidding 
sweep  of  jagged  hills  and  naked  valleys  extending  away  to 
the  horizon,  confused  and  tumbled  as  a  stormy  sea,  he  is 
said  to  have  turned  to  his  staff  and  exclaimed,  with  char- 
acteristic vigor: 

"Gentlemen,  there  is  Hell  with  the  lights  put  out!" 

He  would  gladly  have  turned  back,  but  his  depleted 
supplies  and  the  exhausted  condition  of  his  animals  for- 
bade the  long  return  march  to  Fort  Rice.  Of  all  his 
Indian  scouts,  there  was  only  one  who  professed  to  the 
General  any  familiarity  with  the  gloomy  region  or  who 
would  undertake  to  pilot  the  troops  through  it.  Under 
this  man's  guidance  they  reluctantly  moved  forward,  at 
once  to  find  themselves  involved  in  extreme  difficulties. 

In  order  to  bring  the  wagons  through,  it  became  neces- 
sary to  grade  hills  and  to  span  ravines.  In  the  semi-arid 
waste  the  grass  grew  but  sparsely,  and  what  little  water 
could  be  found  was  bitter  with  alkali,  so  that  along  the 

56 


With  Sully  Into  the  Sioux  Lands 

way  scores  of  horses  and  mules  died  of  exhaustion  and  star- 
vation. It  was  courting  certain  death  for  a  man  to  stray 
even  a  short  distance  from  the  main  body,  for  the  Indians 
recently  defeated  at  Tahkahokuty  had  followed  them  and, 
hovering  among  the  hills,  harassed  the  troops  day  and 
night  by  incessant  attacks,  while  they  were  also  at  pains 
to  burn  the  grass  off  in  advance  of  the  column,  leaving  no 
forage.  The  progress  made  day  by  day  was  painfully 
slow,  and  the  command  was  reduced  to  half  rations.  For 
a  time  it  seemed  that  the  tragedy  of  Kabul  Pass  was  about 
to  be  reenacted  there  in  the  Bad  Lands  of  Dakota,  500 
miles  beyond  the  frontiers  of  civilization. 

But  at  length  the  Little  Missouri,  where  the  hills  ended 
and  the  plains  began,  was  reached  and  crossed.  Here  the 
Indian  attacks  ceased,  since  the  open  country  did  not  ad- 
mit of  their  near  approach,  but  new  afflictions  took  their 
place.  It  was  hoped  that  when  the  plains  were  reached 
there  would  be  grazing  for  the  animals,  but  the  country 
was  found  to  be  suffering  under  a  scourge  of  grasshoppers 
which  had  eaten  off  all  vegetation,  leaving  the  ground  as 
naked  as  a  desert.  When  to  this  was  added  the  heat  of 
the  cloudless  midsummer  sun  and  the  fervid  breath  of  the 
south  gales,  driving  before  them  clouds  of  dust  across  the 
parching  waste,  the  sufferings  of  the  troops  as  they  strug- 
gled forward  became  intense.  They  had  almost  reached 
the  limit  of  endurance  when  at  last,  on  the  12th  of  August, 
their  eyes  were  gladdened  by  the  sight  of  the  swift-rolling 
Yellowstone,  and  the  memorable  march  came  to  an  end 
at  the  appointed  rendezvous. 

57 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Here  some  of  the  boats  were  found  awaiting  them,  as 
instructed,  with  sufficient  provisions  to  relieve  their  imme- 
diate necessities.  But  misfortune  had  fallen  upon  the 
steamer  bearing  the  greater  portion  of  the  supplies,  and 
General  Sully  was  therefore  obliged  to  forego  that  part  of 
his  plan  of  campaign  which  contemplated  the  establish- 
ment of  a  permanent  military  post  on  the  Yellowstone — a 
design  which  was  to  be  cherished  by  the  Government  for 
many  years  before  it  would  become  practicable  of  realiza- 
tion. The  boats  which  Sully  had  ordered  to  the  Yellow- 
stone were  the  Island  City,  on  board  which  he  had  carried 
his  headquarters  previous  to  the  beginning  of  the  over- 
land march,  the  Alone,  and  the  Chippewa  Falls.  These 
vessels  were  selected  on  account  of  their  extremely  light 
draft,  the  Chippewa  Falls  drawing  only  about  twelve 
inches,  light.  When  they  left  Fort  Rice,  several  of  the 
other  steamers  accompanied  them  but  did  not  go  as  far 
as  the  Yellowstone.  Among  these  was  the  Marcella,  with 
Grant  Marsh  on  board.  He  relates  that  immediately 
above  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Bismarck,  the  crests 
of  the  high  bluffs  bordering  the  left  bank  of  the  stream  were 
noticed  to  be  littered  with  pieces  of  bent  and  twisted  iron. 
Its  presence  in  that  wild  country  excited  wonder,  and 
Marsh  and  some  of  his  companions  landed  to  investigate. 
They  found  the  iron  to  be  the  tires  and  other  metal  parts 
of  a  number  of  wagons  which  had  belonged  to  the  Minne- 
sota Indians  when  they  retreated  before  General  Sibley 
the  previous  year.  Finding  themselves  unable  to  take  the 
wagons  with  them  in  their  flight  across  the  Missouri,  they 

58 


With  Sully  Into  the  Sioux  Lands 


had  abandoned  and  burned  them.  Owing  to  this  circum- 
stance the  steamboat  men  called  the  eminence  Wagon- 
wheel  Bluff,  by  which  name  it  is  still  known. 

The  Island  City  and  her  consorts  proceeded  on  their 
way  to  the  Yellowstone,  and  at  about  sunset  on  the 
evening  when  they  expected  to  enter  it,  the  Island  City 
struck  a  snag  which  tore  a  large  hole  in  her  bottom.* 
The  crew  were  at  supper  when  the  crash  came  and  were 
obliged  to  make  a  quick  escape,  as  she  sank  rapidly,  set- 
tling, however,  in  shallow  water.  The  hold  of  the  Island 
City  was  filled  with  corn  for  Sully's  animals  and  with 
barreled  pork  for  the  troops,  as  well  as  with  materials  for 
the  contemplated  fort  on  the  Yellowstone.  All  of  these 
supplies  were  lost,  and  those  which  the  other  steamers 
carried  up  were  barely  sufficient  to  subsist  the  troops  on 
their  return  to  Fort  Rice.  The  machinery  of  the  Island 
City  was  shortly  afterward  removed  and  taken  away  by 
the  Belle  of  Peoria,  a  steamer  downward  bound  from  Fort 
Benton,  Montana.  After  vicissitudes  which  in  them- 
selves would  make  a  stirring  romance,  Captain  Lamont 
finally  succeeded  in  conveying  it  safely  to  St.  Louis,  where 
it  was  placed  in  a  new  boat  and  did  good  service  for  many 
years. 

When  Sully's  troops  reached  the  Yellowstone,  the  Alone 

and  the  Chippewa  Falls  ferried  them  across  that  stream, 

after  which  they  marched  down  to  Fort  Union,  at  its 

mouth.     The  river  was  very  low  when  the  boats  came  to 

*  Captain  Lamont  states  that  the  accident  occurred  about  four  miles 
below  the  fur-trading  post  of  Fort  Union  and  directly  opposite  the  point 
where  Fort  Buford  now  stands. 

59 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  rendezvous,  but  it  fell  still  more  before  they  left  there. 
Despite  their  shallow  draft,  it  seemed  for  a  time  that  they 
would  have  to  be  abandoned.  But  by  removing  all  the 
cargoes  to  the  army  wagons  and  then  hitching  the  horses 
to  the  boats  with  long  ropes  and  dragging  them  over  the 
shallowest  bars  and  rapids,  they  were  at  last  brought 
safely  into  the  Missouri.  Here  they  again  ferried  the 
soldiers  across  to  Fort  Union,  where  a  garrison  of  one  com- 
pany was  left  for  the  winter.  The  troops  then  marched 
down  the  north  bank  of  the  Missouri,  past  Fort  Berthold, 
where  another  garrison  was  posted,  arriving  at  Fort  Rice 
on  September  8th,  thus  successfully  terminating  one  of 
the  most  unusual  Indian  campaigns  on  record.  The 
posts  established  by  General  Sully  all  continued  to  be  gar- 
risoned for  a  number  of  years,  until  the  Indian  wars  of  the 
Northwest  were  brought  to  an  end.* 

*  The  Official  Records  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Part  1,  Vol.  XU, 
Series  I,  contain  the  militaiy  reports  of  this  campaign. 


60 


CHAPTER  IX 

THREE  ROADS  TO  EL  DORADO 

There  is  never  a  foe  we  may  grapple 

hi  the  Iieat  of  a  steel-clashing  fray. 
For  the  qxiarry  we  hunt  is  a  shadow  in  front 

That  flits  and  cornea  never  to  bay. 

BUT  causes  other  than  Indian  disturbances  were  at 
work  bringing  hfe  and  activity  to  the  lonely 
waters  of  the  Missouri  during  and  immediately 
following  those  years  in  which  the  great  miHtary  struggle 
between  South  and  North  was  absorbing  nearly  all  the 
energy  and  interest  of  the  Nation.  Gold,  that  most 
potent  magnet  to  the  adventurous  in  all  times  and  lands, 
was  the  chief  of  these  causes.  The  precious  metal  had 
been  discovered  in  the  regions  now  embraced  in  IdaJiG 
and  Montana  as  early  as  1852,  but  it  was  not  until  ten 
years  later  that  the  findings  became  sufficiently  rich  to 
attract  widespread  attention.  The  first  important  dis- 
coveries were  made  around  Bannack,  Dakota  Territory, 
in  the  summer  of  1862.  During  the  following  year  the 
exceedingly  rich  placer  deposits  in  Alder  Gulch  came  to 
light  and  a  city  of  10,000  people  sprang  up  where  but  a 
few  weeks  before  the  wolves  had  howled.  Last  Chance 
Gulch  being  discovered  late  in  the  autumn  of  1864,  by 
the   next  spring  the  infant  city  of  Helena  covered   its 

61 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


rugged  hillsides  and  for  several  years  thereafter  immigra- 
tion poured  into  the  whole  country  in  a  ceaseless  stream.* 
At  the  time  of  their  settlement  all  of  these  places  lay  in 
Dakota  or  Idaho,  for  the  territory  of  Montana  had  not 
yet  been  erected. 

The  torrent  of  white  invasion,  coming  suddenly  into  the 
primeval  regions  of  which  the  Indians  had  hitherto  held 
undisturbed  possession,  aroused  them  to  a  frenzy  of  re- 
sistence.  The  fortune-seekers  chose  three  main  routes 
of  travel  for  reaching  the  gold-fields.  The  first  of  these, 
and  the  one  by  which  the  original  discoverers  had  entered, 
came  from  the  Pacific  regions  across  the  western  slopes  of 
the  Continental  Divide.  It  was  the  most  convenient  route 
from  California,  but  inaccessible  to  immigration  from  the 
Eastern  states.  The  second  was  by  way  of  the  Missouri 
River  to  Fort  Benton,  at  the  head  of  navigation,  and  thence 
by  a  comparatively  short  overland  journey  into  the  mines. 
The  third,  and  most  menacing  from  the  Indian  point  of 
view,  left  the  great  trans-continental  road  to  California  at 
Fort  Laramie  on  the  North  Platte  River,  and  extended 
from  that  point  northwestward,  skirting  the  base  of  the 
Big  Horn  Mountains,  to  the  valley  of  the  Yellowstone  and 
Bozeman,  near  the  headwaters  of  that  stream. 

The  last  route,  which  came  to  be  called  the  Montana 
or  Bozeman  Road,  traversed  the  very  heart  of  the  region 
where  ranged  the  vast  herds  of  buffalo  upon  which  the 
Indians  chiefly  depended  for  their  supply  of  both  food  and 
clothing.  They  naturally  regarded  the  invasion  of  this 
*  Contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana. 

62 


Three  Roads  to  El  Dorado 


country  by  white  men  with  great  indignation  and  alarm, 
but  regardless  of  the  protests  of  the  rightful  owners,  the 
emigrants  presumed  upon  right  of  highway  across  it  and 
soon  established  a  well-defined  thoroughfare.*  In  18G5 
the  Government  sought  to  justify  the  action  of  its  citizens 
and  to  insure  them  in  continued  possession  of  the  road, 
by  making  a  treaty  at  Fort  Sully  in  which  the  Indians  con- 
sented to  its  existence.  But  it  was  noticeable  that  the 
Indians  who  signed  this  treaty  on  behalf  of  the  Sioux 
Nation  were  of  those  tribes  which  dwelt  close  to  the  river 
and  that  the  Ogalalla,  the  most  powerful  tribe  of  the  Sioux 
and  the  one  actually  in  occupation  of  the  buffalo  country, 
not  only  did  not  sign  but  protested  against  the  provisions 
of  the  treaty  and  flatly  repudiated  it-t  In  the  early  sum- 
mer of  18G6  the  Government  again  attempted  to  arrange 
a  treaty,  at  Fort  Laramie,  with  the  Northern  Cheyenne 
and  the  Ogalalla  tribes,  by  which  they  would  consent  to 
the  use  of  the  road,  but  it  ended  in  failure,  and  Red  Cloud, 
a  leading  Ogalalla  chief,  left  the  fort  with  his  followers 
after  declaring  open  war  against  the  United  States.  Troops 
were  then  sent  out  along  the  Montana  Road,  establishing 
military  posts  at  Forts  Reno,  Phil  Kearney  and  C.  F. 
Smith.  But  Red  Cloud,  whose  military  ability  had  seldom 
been  excelled  by  men  of  his  race,  immediately  concen- 
trated his  forces  about  the  new  posts  in  such  numbers  that 
their  garrisons  had  great  diflficulty  in  even  maintaining 
themselves,  let  alone  assisting  emigrants  to  keep  the  road 

*  Contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana, 
t  "History  of  the  Sioux  Indians,"  by  Doane  Robinson. 

63 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


open.  For  many  months  all  the  forts,  and  especially  Phil 
Kearney,  were  in  a  state  of  investment,  while  bloody 
engagements  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  Finally,  in 
1868,  the  Government  reluctantly  decided  to  abandon  the 
road  entirely,  and  arranged  a  treaty  with  Red  Cloud  to 
this  effect,  he  in  return  consenting  to  the  construction  of 
any  desired  roads  south  of  the  North  Platte  River,  a  matter 
in  which  he  was  little  interested,  since  the  vital  point  for 
which  he  and  his  people  had  been  contending  was  con- 
ceded to  them,  and  their  victory  was  virtually  complete. 

The  practical  abandonment  of  the  Montana  Road  by 
emigration,  in  1866,  left  the  Missouri  River  as  the  only 
avenue  of  ingress  to  the  mining  regions  from  the  East. 
Parties  following  this  route  took  steamboats  at  St.  Louis 
or  some  other  point  on  the  lower  river,  and  traveled  by 
them  to  Fort  Benton,  2,300  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Missouri,  whence  an  overland  journey  of  about  200  miles 
brought  them  to  the  heart  of  the  ore-producing  district. 
Fort  Benton,  which  for  many  yeS^rs  had  been  an  obscure 
trading-post  of  the  American,  and  later  of  the  North- 
western Fur  Company,  thus  became  the  rendezvous  and 
outfitting  point  for  the  whole  mining  region  and  imme- 
diately leaped  to  a  position  of  great  commercial  import- 
ance. Where,  previous  to  1866,  only  about  a  half-dozen 
steamers  had  arrived  at  the  Fort  Benton  levee  annually, 
carrying  freight  to  a  total  of  perhaps  1,500  tons,  in  1866 
there  were  thirty-one  arrivals  and  in  1867,  thirty-nine.* 
During  the  latter  year  these  boats  transported  8,061  tons 
♦  Contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana. 

64 


Three  Roads  to  El  Dorado 


of  freight  to  Fort  Benton,  and  carried  some  10,000  pas- 
sengers to  and  from  that  point.  The  average  fare  of  each 
of  these  passengers  was  $150,  or  $1,500,000  total  receipts 
for  passengers  alone.  Of  the  freight  carried,  2,095  tons 
belonged  to  the  Government,  the  remainder  being  pro- 
visions, dry  goods,  and  mining  machinery  owned  by 
private  parties.*  On  the  long  stretch  of  1,306  miles  be- 
tween Fort  Benton  and  Fort  Randall,  where  the  settle- 
ments began,  the  only  ports  in  1867  were  the  military  and 
fur-trading  posts  of  Crow  Creek  (Fort  Thompson),  Fort 
Sully,t  Fort  Rice,  Fort  Stevenson,  Fort  Berthold,  Fort 
Buford,  Fort  Hawley  and  Camp  Cooke.  To  them  during 
the  season  of  1867,  twenty-eight  cargoes  were  consigned 
from  St.  Louis,  aggregating  8,094  tons,  of  which  5,832 
tons  was  Government  freight  and  2,262  tons,  private.  J 

Although  from  the  above  figures  it  may  readily  be  im- 
agined that  the  upper  river  presented  an  animated  appear- 
ance during  these  years  of  prosperity,  the  route  was  none 
the  less  beset  with  many  perils.  Rocks  and  snags,  espe- 
cially the  latter,  were  scattered  all  along  the  channel,  and 
the  steamboat  pilot  was  obliged  to  be  ever  on  the  alert 
to  guard  his  vessel  against  injury  or  destruction  by  these 
menacing  obstacles.  The  numberless  sandbars,  con- 
stantly being  shifted  in  form  and  even  location  by  the  rest- 
less current,  offered  obstructions  less  dangerous,  it  is  true, 

*  Report  of  Captain  C.  W.  Howell,  U.  S.  A.,  in  Report  of  the  Secretary 
of  War,  1867-1868. 

t  The  new  post,  established  in  1866  when  the  old  one  was  abandoned, 
and  located  about  thirty-three  miles  farther  up  the  river  than  the  latter. — 
South  Dakota  Historical  Collections,  Vol.  I. 

X  Report  of  Captain  C.  W.  Howell. 

Q5 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


but  none  the  less  annoying,  for  hours  and  often  days  were 
consumed  in  forcing  a  boat  across  them.  But  the  greatest 
danger  to  be  feared  in  the  passage  to  Fort  Benton  was 
from  the  Indians.  Though  Red  Cloud  had  gathered 
about  him  for  his  warfare  along  the  Montana  Road  a 
majority  of  the  malcontents  of  all  the  Northern  tribes, 
there  were  still  hovering  along  the  banks  of  the  Missouri 
a  great  many  hostiles  whose  attacks  upon  passing  steamers 
and  even  upon  the  military  posts  of  the  region  were  fre- 
quent and  annoying. 

That  the  Indian  war  was  not  confined  to  Fort  Phil 
Kearney  and  its  vicinity  in  these  years  may  be  appreciated 
when  it  is  said  that  on  July  31,  1866,  the  garrison  of  Fort 
Rice  fought  an  engagement  with  Indians  near  the  post, 
and  on  December  24th  and  25th,  the  troops  at  Fort  Buford 
had  a  similar  action.  On  July  9,  August  8,  and  October 
10,  1867,  Fort  Stevenson's  garrison  was  engaged,  and  on 
November  6th,  Fort  Buford  again  received  attention  from 
the  red  men.*  It  was  in  1868,  however,  after  the  Mon- 
tana Road  had  been  closed,  that  Indian  activity  along  the 
Missouri  became  really  menacing.  A  great  many  war- 
riors of  Red  Cloud's  following,  not  content  to  be  guided 
by  the  example  of  their  illustrious  leader  and  remain  at 
peace,  turned  their  attention  to  the  river  posts  and  floating 
traflSc.  On  May  13th  of  that  year,  two  men  were  killed, 
scalped,  and  their  bodies  shot  full  of  arrows  near  Fort 
Buford  by  an  Uncpapa  war  party,  and  on  the  15th  of  the 
same  month  two  Government  mail-carriers  were  waylaid 
*  Historical  Register  and  Dictionary  of  the  United  States  Army. 

66 


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f. 

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1 

Three  Roads  to  El  Dorado 


and  massacred  between  Fort  Stevenson  and  Fort  Totten, 
at  the  eastern  end  of  Devil's  Lake.*  On  May  17th,  Camp 
Cooke,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Judith  River,  Montana,  was 
attacked,  and  again,  on  May  19th,  at  the  mouth  of  Mussel- 
shell River,  a  detachment  of  the  garrison  from  that  post, 
under  Lieutenant  Edwards,  fought  an  engagement  with 
a  party  of  seventy-five  Sioux.  Detachments  of  the  Camp 
Cooke  garrison  fought  on  May  24th,  on  the  Musselshell, 
and  also  near  the  Yellowstone,  and  on  June  13th  they  were 
engaged  at  Twenty-Five  Yard  Creek.  On  July  28th, 
near  old  Fort  Sully,  August  20th,  at  Fort  Buford,  and 
September  26th,  near  Fort  Rice,  the  hostiles  approached 
in  sufficient  force  to  precipitate  action. f  Captain  Howell, 
U.  S.  A.,  who  ascended  the  river  as  far  as  Dauphin's 
Rapids  on  the  steamer  Miner,  in  1868,  reported  on  reach- 
ing Fort  Buford,  August  3d,  that  the  Sioux  had  raided  the 
cattle  herd  the  previous  day  but  had  done  little  harm. 
On  August  20th,  however,  they  succeeded  in  stampeding 
the  herd  of  250  head  and  escaping  with  all  but  fifty-seven. 
The  soldiers  in  the  fort  were  erecting  adobe  post-build- 
ings when  the  savages  swooped  down,  and  they  seized 
their  arms  and  rushed  out,  but  too  late,  though  they  lost 
two  men  killed  and  five  wounded  in  the  futile  pursuit. 
On  August  9th  the  steamer  Leni  Leoti  was  fired  into 
near  Fort  Berthold  and  one  passenger  killed,  and  during 
the  summer  two  hay  cutters  lost  their  lives  near  Fort 
Stevenson.  J 

*  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  1868-69. 

t  Historical  Register  and  Dictionary  of  the  United  States  Army. 


X  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  1868-69. 

6/ 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


But  despite  the  dangers  of  navigation,  the  profits  of  the 
upper  river  commerce  were  too  great  to  be  ignored,  for 
five-sixths  of  all  the  precious  metals  from  the  mines  came 
to  the  States  by  this  route.*  The  value  of  a  cargo  of  gold 
dust  often  amounted  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars. 
Many  lower  river  boats  of  deep  draft  were  tempted  by 
the  enormous  profits  to  engage  in  the  "mountain  trade," 
as  it  was  called,  and  they  frequently  came  to  grief  in  the 
shoal  waters  of  the  upper  river  if  their  return  was  delayed 
until  after  the  spring  freshets  had  passed  down.  But  the 
light-draft  steamers  built  especially  for  this  region  could 
often  navigate  throughout  the  summer.  The  boats  gen- 
erally left  St.  Louis  early  in  April,  or  as  soon  as  the  ice 
was  out,  and  consumed  two  months  or  more  in  reaching 
Fort  Benton.  With  the  aid  of  the  rapid  current,  the  return 
trip  took  a  much  shorter  time,  between  two  and  four 
weeks  being  sufiicient  if  no  accidents  befell;  and  some  of 
the  light-draft  boats  were  able  to  make  two  round  trips 
in  a  season,  though  the  feat  was  an  unusual  one. 
*  Report  of  Captain  C.  W.  HoweU. 


68 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  LUELLA   AT  FORT  BENTON  IN  VIGILANTE  DATS 

Just  a  bunch  o'  dry-goods  boxes  dumped  along  a  rise. 

Chinks  plugged  up  with  pitch  an'  tar,  stove  pipes  stickin'  through. 

But,  you  bet,  that  little  burg  was  sure  enough  the  prize 
Fer  stirrin'  up  a  tinted  time  an'  startin'  it  to  brew. 

A  MONG  the  large  fleet  which  drew  out  from  St. 
/-%  Louis  in  the  early  spring  days  of  1866  and,  turn- 
ing westward  past  Mobile  Point  into  the  swelling 
tide  of  the  Missouri,  started  on  the  long,  up-hill  climb 
toward  the  mountains,  was  the  stanch  packet  Luella, 
Captain  Grant  Marsh,  master.  She  was  the  first  boat  of 
which  he  had  ever  been  in  chief  command,  but  the  owners 
who  had  placed  her  in  his  charge  felt  that  his  work  with 
the  Sully  Expedition  had  well  qualified  him  for  the  respon- 
sible position,  and  the  sequel  proved  the  wisdom  of  their 
choice.  There  were  none  too  many  steamboat  men 
familiar  with  the  hitherto  untraveled  waters  of  the  North- 
west to  meet  the  sudden  demands  caused  by  the  "gold 
rush,"  and  the  younger  men  in  the  business  who  had  been 
on  the  upper  river  and  had  profited  by  their  experiences, 
thus  found  ready  opportunities  for  promotion. 

On  this  his  first  trip  with  the  Luella,  Captain  Marsh,  as 
has  been  his  practice  ever  since,  acted  as  both  master  and 

69 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


chief  pilot,  thus  not  only  saving  the  expense  of  an  extra 
navigator  but  also  holding  the  boat  at  all  times  much  more 
absolutely  under  his  personal  control.  As  has  been 
pointed  out,  pilots,  especially  in  the  old  days,  were  an 
independent  and  assertive  race  who  frequently  preferred 
to  ignore  the  captain's  authority  entirely,  and  fortunate 
indeed  was  the  commanding  officer  who  could  himself 
stand  a  watch  at  the  wheel  and  dispense  with  the  serv- 
ices of  one  of  the  haughty  clan.  The  partner  who  alter- 
nated watches  with  Captain  Marsh  on  this  trip  was  Rube 
McDaniel,  skillful  as  a  pilot  and  modest  as  a  man  and 
much  less  given  than  some  of  his  professional  brethren  to 
the  arrogation  of  authority. 

The  Luella  left  St.  Louis  on  the  18th  of  April  with  a 
cabinful  of  passengers  and  113  tons  of  freight,  chiefly  min- 
ing machinery  and  staple  groceries.  She  had  started 
promptly  as  soon  as  the  ice  was  out  of  the  river  because 
her  speed  was  less  than  that  of  many  of  the  boats  engaged 
in  the  Fort  Benton  trade,  and  time  was  precious.  After 
Fort  Randall  had  been  left  behind,  downward-bound 
boats  brought  news  of  the  extreme  hostility  of  the  Indians 
above,  and  passengers  and  crew  began  to  grow  uneasy 
over  the  prospect.  There  was  really  little  cause  for  appre- 
hension, since  nearly  every  one  on  board  was  well  armed 
and  the  boat  itself  had  been  especially  prepared  to  with- 
stand Indian  attacks.  But  it  was  difficult  for  the  Captain 
to  calm  the  fears  of  the  more  timid.  In  those  years  every 
one  had  heard  of  the  frequent  assaults  on  passing  steamers 
by  bands  of  Sioux,  and  the  still  more  frequent  ones  on  the 

70 


The  **Luella"  at  Fort  Benton  in  Vigilante  Days 


small  parties  of  miners  who  now  and  then  attempted  the 
perilous  trip  from  Fort  Benton  to  the  States  in  mackinaw 
boats  or  canoes.  The  captain  and  Rube  McDaniel,  when 
on  duty  at  the  wheel,  could  breathe  freely  whatever  hap- 
pened, for  the  pilot-house  of  the  Luella,  like  that  of  every 
upper-river  boat  was  sheathed  with  boiler  iron  against 
which  the  bullets  of  the  savages  might  patter  harmlessly. 
The  people  in  the  cabins  below  were  not  quite  so  well  pro- 
tected, but  among  them  all  there  was  only  one  who  so  com- 
pletely lost  his  nerve  that  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  go 
through  to  Fort  Benton.  This  was  the  boat's  clerk,  a 
young  fellow  named  Mellon.  So  panic-stricken  did  he 
become  that  he  was  on  the  verge  of  nervous  collapse  when 
the  Luella  reached  Milk  River,  Montana,  350  miles  below 
her  destination.  Here  was  encountered  the  deep-draft 
steamer  Rubicon,  Captain  Horace  Bixby,  which,  finding 
herself  unable  to  proceed  farther  upstream,  was  prepar- 
ing to  return  to  St.  Louis.  Regardless  of  protests  and  ridi- 
cule, Mellon  immediately  left  the  Luella  and  took  passage 
on  the  Rubicon  for  home.  Captain  Bixby,  who  was  thus 
perhaps  the  means  of  saving  the  youth  from  an  untimely 
end  by  nervous  prostration,  was  the  famous  Mississippi 
River  navigator  who  had  been  confidential  pilot  to  Flag- 
Officers  Foote  and  Davis,  of  the  Mississippi  Flotilla,  in 
the  days  of  the  Civil  War,  who  had  "learned"  Mark 
Twain  the  river  at  an  earlier  day,  and  who,  in  return  for 
this  service,  was  ere  long  to  be  immortalized  by  the  genial 
humorist  in  his  "Life  on  the  Mississippi."  Captain  Bix- 
by's  experiences  among  the  sandbars  of  the  upper  Mis- 

71 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


souri  did  not  arouse  in  him  any  admiration  for  the  region, 
and  since  the  voyage  of  the  Rubicon  he  has  confined  him- 
self to  the  deeper  channels  of  the  Father  of  Waters,  which 
he  knows  so  well.  A  few  years  since,  a  gentleman  from 
Montana,  voyaging  through  Louisiana  with  Captain  Bixby 
and  observing  the  deference  paid  to  the  veteran  by  all 
other  steamboat  men,  dubbed  him  "the  Grant  Marsh  of 
the  lower  Mississippi." 

"And  by  the  Lord,  sir,"  says  Captain  Bixby,  in  re- 
counting the  incident,  "  it  was  a  high  compliment,  for  any 
man  who  can  run  a  boat  for  twenty  years  in  that  rainwater 
creek  above  Bismarck  is  surely  the  king  of  pilots." 

Although  above  Wagonwheel  Bluffs  the  river  was 
entirely  strange  to  Captain  Marsh,  he  threaded  his  way 
through  its  difficulties  successfully,  and  on  June  17th, 
having  encountered  no  Indians,  reached  his  destina- 
tion safely,  just  sixty  days  out  from  St.  Louis.  It  was  a 
strange  scene  upon  which  he  looked  forth  from  the  pilot- 
house after  he  had  rung  the  last  landing  bell  and  the  boat 
lay  snubbed  to  the  bank.  Before  him  on  the  open  prairie 
stretched  a  straggling  hamlet  of  rude  log  cabins  and  rutted 
wagon  tracks,  containing  but  500  people,  yet  the  commer- 
cial center  of  a  vast  territory.  Before  the  doorways  of  the 
trading  establishments  stood  the  huge  freight  wagons 
drawn  by  a  half-dozen  span  of  oxen  or  mules,  ready  to 
start  out  on  their  toilsome  journeys  to  Alder  Gulch,  Last 
Chance  Gulch,  Deer  Lodge  or  other  mining  camps  back 
among  the  mountains.  In  shabby  huts  where  villainous 
whiskey  sold  for  forty  cents  a  glass  and  in  tawdry  dance- 

72 


The  '' Luella"  at  Fort  Benton  in  Vigilante  Days 


halls  presided  over  by  women  whose  records  had  driven 
them  from  older  settlements,  men  jostled  one  another  to 
spend  in  an  hour's  debauchery  the  fruits  of  toilsome 
months.  Here  were  swarthy  sons  of  Mexico,  dressed  in 
the  gaudy  fashion  popular  south  of  the  Rio  Grande;  here 
were  soft-spoken  Southerners  in  plenty,  flotsam  of  the 
wrecked  Confederacy,  some  from  the  far-flung  "left  wing 
of  Price's  army,"  some  from  more  distant  regions  of  Dixie, 
but  all  bent  upon  wringing  from  Montana's  golden  val- 
leys the  wealth  they  had  lost  in  their  stricken  native  land. 
Here  were  many  ex-soldiers  of  the  Union  armies,  slaking 
a  thirst  for  adventure  which  the  battlefield  had  not  satis- 
fied, and  gladly  giving  the  hand  of  fellowship  to  their 
erstwhile  foes.  Here  were  miners  from  the  Pacific  slope, 
farmers  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  fur-traders  and  hunt- 
ers of  the  vanishing  Northwestern  wilderness,  clergymen, 
ex-convicts,  hardened  desperadoes,  and  heroes  of  law  and 
order;  every  type  and  condition  of  man  that  the  continent 
could  produce,  gathered  together  by  one  common  aim  and 
impulse,  the  pursuit  of  wealth. 

From  the  naked  hills  whose  summits  overtopped  the 
infant  community,  the  untamed  Indians  looked  down 
sullenly  upon  its  fevered  industry,  seeing  in  every  freight 
wagon  that  left  its  streets  for  the  distant  mines  another 
contribution  to  the  forces  which  were  slowly  dispossessing 
them  of  their  native  land,  hearing  in  every  whistle-blast 
from  the  crawling  steamboats  before  the  levee,  the  hoarse 
challenge  of  civilization  to  barbarism.  A  short  distance 
along  the  river  bank  from  the  new  town  loomed  the  mas- 

73 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


sive  but  crumbling  walls  of  old  Fort  Benton,  the  American 
Fur  Company's  post,  which  for  twenty  years  had  stood 
guard  over  the  troubled  waters,  the  habitation  of  men  who 
came  as  suppliants  for  trade  into  the  empire  of  the  no- 
mads. Its  days  of  usefulness  had  already  passed,  for  at 
its  base  stood  now  a  settlement  of  white  men  strong  enough 
in  numbers  to  defy  the  unskilled  Indians  without  the  aid 
of  adobe  walls  and  bastions. 

Less  than  two  years  had  elapsed  since  Montana  had 
been  erected  into  a  territory,  and  only  a  few  months  since 
the  new  territorial  officials  had ,  reached  Bannack  from 
their  distant  homes  in  the  East,  removing  soon  after  to  the 
new  capital  at  Alder  Gulch,  which  had  been  renamed 
the  City  of  Virginia.*  During  all  the  interval  between 
the  opening  of  the  mining  settlements  and  the  arrival  of 
these  officials,  a  state  of  anarchy  had  existed  in  Montana. 
There  was  no  legislature,  no  executive,  no  judiciary,  no 
militia.  Though  most  of  the  region  was  nominally  a  part 
of  Madison  County,  Idaho,  nothing  approaching  enforce- 
ment of  law  was  undertaken  by  the  Idaho  government, 
and  virtually  every  settler  was  a  law  unto  himself.  In  a 
country  whose  only  wealth  consisted  of  gold  and  where 
every  inhabitant  possessed  more  or  less  of  the  precious 
metal,  such  a  state  of  affairs  was  an  irresistible  temptation 
to  crime.  Highway  robberies,  accompanied  more  often 
than  not  by  cold-blooded  murders,  became  alarmingly  fre- 

*  All  the  facts  in  this  chapter  relating  to  the  early  history  of  Montana, 
except  those  of  a  nature  personal  to  Captain  Marsh,  are  based  upon 
articles  contained  in  the  published  volumes  of  contributions  to  the  His- 
torical Society  of  Montana. — J.  M.  H. 

74 


The  *^ Luella^*  at  Fort  Benton  in  Vigilante  Days 


quent.  No  traveler's  life  was  safe  if  he  was  suspected  by 
the  highwaymen,  or  "road  agents,"  of  having  gold  in  his 
possession.  The  robbers  grew  so  bold  and  numerous  that 
they  banded  themselves  together  and,  working  in  parties, 
did  not  even  hesitate  to  waylay  stage-coaches  filled  with 
well-armed  passengers,  and  before  long,  more  than  one 
hundred  innocent  men  had  fallen  victims  to  their  rapacity. 
But  at  length  the  anger  of  the  long-suffering  commu- 
nity was  aroused,  and  during  the  winter  of  1863-64,  the 
Vigilance  Committee  was  organized,  a  crude  but  mighty 
engine  of  stern  justice  for  the  protection  of  life  and  prop- 
erty. In  its  ranks  were  found  the  best  and  most  law- 
respecting  men  of  every  settlement;  men  who  desired 
peace  and  order  and  safety  of  person  and  were  determined 
to  have  it  at  any  price.  With  heroic  courage,  for  they  were 
dealing  with  desperate  criminals,  they  proceeded  against 
the  road  agents,  pursuing,  capturing  and  hanging  them 
wherever  found.  Among  the  very  first  who,  upon  ample 
evidence,  they  convicted  and  executed,  was  Henry  Plum- 
mer,  the  leader  of  the  cut-throat  gang.  It  was  a  grimly 
humorous  evidence  of  the  sort  of  law  prevailing  before  the 
reign  of  the  vigilantes  commenced  that  this  man  during  his 
whole  career  of  crime  had  been  the  duly  appointed  sheriff 
of  Madison  County,  Idaho.  His  official  position  he  had 
skillfully  used  as  a  cloak  to  hide  his  true  character  and  an 
aid  in  discovering  the  most  profitable  victims  for  murder. 
But  the  keen  eyes  of  the  Vigilance  Committee  penetrated 
the  disguise,  and  he  with  four  of  his  accomplices  gave  up 
their  lives  on  the  same  gibbet  at  Virginia  City  one  day  in 

75 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


January,  1864,  sacrifices  to  their  mediaeval  methods  of 
acquiring  wealth. 

At  the  time  of  Captain  Marsh's  first  arrival,  the  feeble 
arm  of  the  new  territorial  government  had  not  yet  gained 
strength  to  reach  from  Virginia  City  to  Fort  Benton,  and 
here  the  Vigilance  Committee  still  ruled  supreme.  The 
men  composing  it  did  not  meet  in  formal  conclave  to  de- 
bate the  punishment  of  a  suspected  offender.  A  few  low 
words  spoken  in  passing  as  they  met  each  other  on  their 
daily  business,  a  vote  taken  in  the  same  manner,  and  per- 
haps the  next  morning  a  still  figure  would  be  found  hang- 
ing by  the  neck  before  one  of  the  stores,  or  some  hulking 
individual  would  have  disappeared  from  his  familiar 
haunts  never  to  return,  fled  in  the  night  from  a  grim  warn- 
ing he  did  not  dare  question  or  resist.  The  law  of  the 
Vigilance  Committee  was  stern  and  uncompromising,  but 
it  was  seldom  unjust,  for  even  the  extremity  of  its  pun- 
ishments found  excuse  in  the  chaotic  conditions  of  frontier 
society.  In  Fort  Benton  so  great  had  become  the  terror 
inspired  by  its  constant  menace  of  swift  vengeance  upon 
evil  doing,  that  Captain  Marsh  saw  men  ride  in  from  the 
mines,  fling  down  their  saddles,  with  sacks  of  gold  dust 
tied  to  the  cantles,  upon  the  floor  of  Baker,  Carroll  and 
Steele's  store  and  go  away  for  a  week's  spree,  to  find  when 
they  sobered  up  and  returned  that  their  property  had  not 
been  touched.  While  the  Luella  was  unloading,  one  of 
her  deck  hands  stole  from  the  cargo  a  box  of  patent 
medicine,  doubtless  because  the  nostrum  contained  a 
large  percentage  of  alcohol.     In  some  way  the  vigilantes 

76 


The  ^^Luella'^  at  Fort  Benton  in  Vigilante  Days 

learned  of  the  theft.  The  miscreant  was  tried  by  one  of 
their  mysterious  tribunals  and  the  next  night  was  seized 
and  borne  away  to  a  secluded  spot  where  he  was  whipped 
until  nearly  dead.  The  captain  afterward  was  informed 
that  the  Vigilance  Committee  had  come  within  three  votes 
of  returning  a  verdict  for  hanging  the  thief,  but  the  pun- 
ishment accorded  was  sufficient,  and  no  more  petty  pilfer- 
ing occurred  on  board  the  Luella. 

A  few  days  after  this  experience  with  the  vigilantes, 
there  appeared  at  Fort  Benton  a  representative  of  the  firm 
of  Smith,  Hubbell  &  Hawley,  who,  in  the  previous  year, 
had  bought  out  all  the  interests  of  the  long-established 
American  Fur  Company.  The  new  firm  had  determined 
to  abandon  the  post  at  Fort  Union,  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  Yellowstone,  and  their  representative  was  looking  for 
a  steamer  to  convey  the  goods  from  it  to  Fort  Benton.  He 
selected  the  Luella,  and  Captain  Marsh  thereupon  ran 
down,  loaded  everything  on  board,  and  brought  it  to  its 
destination  without  mishap.  Probably  no  one  thought  of 
it  at  the  time,  but  when  the  Luella  dropped  away  from  the 
bank  that  day,  leaving  the  stout  walls  of  the  deserted  fort, 
which  had  withstood  the  storms  of  thirty-seven  years,  to 
crumble  into  dust,  she  had  turned  the  last  leaf  on  the 
closing  chapter  of  an  epoch  which  for  thrilling  romance 
has  seldom  been  equalled  in  the  history  of  the  continent. 
Fort  Union  had  been  the  greatest  of  the  Indian  trading- 
posts  within  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
its  prime  was  a  center  of  much  commercial  importance. 
For  years  the  most  powerful  tribes  of  the  Northwest  had 

77 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


congregated  there  for  purposes  of  trade;  there  had 
come  the  factors  of  the  Company's  other  posts  from  all 
over  the  vast  watershed  of  the  upper  Missouri ;  there  had 
assembled  the  bold  voyageurs  of  the  wilderness  from  the 
Great  Slave  Lake  and  the  Platte,  from  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains and  the  Red  River  of  the  North;  there  had  visited 
at  one  time  and  another  some  of  the  world's  most  famous 
scientists  and  explorers,  among  others,  George  Catlin, 
Prince  Maximilian  and  Audubon.  When  Fort  Union 
passed  away,  there  passed  with  it  the  last  vestige  of  the 
fur  trade  as  an  independent  commercial  institution,  and 
the  steamer  Luella,  industriously  engaged  in  the  laudable 
work  of  building  up  civilization  in  western  Montana,  was 
the  visible  agent  of  its  passing. 

The  Fort  Union  cargo  had  scarcely  been  unloaded  when 
Captain  Marsh  was  called  upon  to  make  another  short  trip. 
The  shallow  water  of  midsummer  made  it  dangerous  for 
the  lower-river  boats  to  delay  their  departure  from  Fort 
Benton  after  the  June  rise  began  to  decline.  But  one  of 
these,  the  Marion,  Captain  Abe  Wolf,  had  done  this,  and 
on  at  last  starting  with  a  heavy  load  of  passengers,  she  had 
gone  aground  at  Pablos  Rapids,  seventy  miles  below 
Benton,  where  the  rapidly  falling  river  had  left  her  hope- 
lessly stranded.  Captain  Marsh  went  down,  rescued  the 
passengers  and  bought  the  Marion's  machinery,  which  he 
took  back  to  Fort  Benton  and  sold. 

It  was  now  late  in  August  and  the  Luella  was  the  only 
boat  left  at  Benton,  for  never  before  had  one  dared  stay 
until  so  late  in  the  season.     But  the  captain  was  confident 

78 


The  ^' Luella^'  at  Fort  Benton  in  Vigilante  Days 

of  his  ability  to  get  out  of  the  upper  river  safely  and  adver- 
tised in  the  Helena  papers  that  the  Luella  would  leave  for 
St.  Louis  during  the  first  week  in  September.  Since,  after 
disposing  of  the  Marion's  machinery,  he  had  still  a  number 
of  days  remaining  before  he  could  leave  according  to 
schedule,  he  organized  a  party  from  among  the  officers 
and  crew  and  prospective  passengers  of  the  boat,  and  went 
on  a  hunting  expedition  into  the  Highwood  Mountains, 
about  thirty  miles  south  from  the  river.  In  this  region  of 
abundant  game  which  had  never  been  disturbed  by  hun- 
ters they  spent  a  delightful  week,  returning  to  Fort  Benton 
on  September  1st,  ready  to  commence  the  tedious  journey 
to  the  States. 


79 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  TROUBLES  OF  A  TREASURE  SHIP 

So  there  we  stuck  on  that  doggone  bar 

And  in  some  two  minutes  found 
There  was  other  folks  in  that  neck  o'  woods 

That  knew  we  were  aground. 

AS  the  Luella  offered  the  last  opportunity  of  the  year 
/-\  for  leaving  the  country,  there  was  naturally  a  great 
rush  of  applications  for  passage,  and  when  she 
departed  on  September  2nd,  she  had  on  board  230  miners 
and  $1,250,000  in  gold  dust,  the  most  valuable  cargo  of 
treasure  ever  carried  down  the  Missouri  River.*  Having 
lost  his  clerk  on  the  way  up  as  previously  related,  and  being 
himself  entirely  unfamiliar  with  bookkeeping.  Captain 
Marsh  was  sorely  puzzled  for  a  time  as  to  how  he  should 
collect  and  keep  account  of  the  fares  of  his  numerous  pas- 
sengers and  the  freight  charges  on  his  cargo  of  gold.  But 
he  soon  found  in  an  intelligent  passenger  by  the  name  of 
MacNeil  a  man  eminently  qualified  for  these  delicate 
duties,  as  the  results  showed.  Among  such  a  crowd  there 
were  naturally  many  rough  characters  who  would  use  every 
effort  to  escape  paying  the  established  rates  and  would  not 
hesitate  to  make  trouble  if  they  thought  they  could  gain 

*  See  "  History  of  the  Navigation  of  the  Missouri  River,"  by  Col.  H. 
M.  Chittenden,  U.  S.  A. 

80 


The  Troubles  of  a  Treasure  Ship 

anything  by  so  doing.  All  the  charges  were  payable  in 
gold  dust,  the  only  circulating  medium,  and  it  was  a  com- 
mon expedient  of  the  miners  to  mix  black  sand  with  their 
dust,  which,  if  undetected  in  the  weighing,  saved  them 
something  of  their  hard-earned  wealth.  But  the  black 
sand  never  passed  the  vigilant  eye  of  MacNeil.  He  re- 
quired the  passengers  to  pan  their  dust  in  his  presence  and 
wash  out  all  the  sand  before  he  would  accept  it,  a  procedure 
which  angered  some  of  them  greatly,  though  fortunately 
he  was  a  man  whose  courage  they  respected  enough  to 
avert  serious  consequences. 

The  voyage  through  the  Missouri's  tortuous  bends  and 
narrow  reaches  was  uneventful  until  the  Luella  reached 
the  mouth  of  Milk  River,  a  small  stream  which  enters  the 
Missouri  347  miles  below  Benton.  Here  a  peculiar  acci- 
dent occurred.  As  is  usual  at  points  along  the  Missouri 
where  tributaries  enter  that  stream,  a  sandbar  existed  at 
the  mouth  of  Milk  River  difficult  to  cross  in  low  water. 
On  this  bar  the  Luella  ran  aground.  While  the  crew  was 
engaged  in  dislodging  her,  the  passengers,  most  of  whom 
carried  their  gold  dust  in  leather  belts  about  their  waists, 
stood  along  the  sides  of  the  boat,  idly  watching  the  work, 
and  one  of  them,  a  man  named  McClellan,  accidentally 
fell  overboard.  The  water  was  barely  two  feet  deep,  but 
the  current  was  swift.  He  was  carried  off  his  feet,  and  so 
great  was  the  weight  of  his  treasure  belt  that  he  was 
dragged  down  and  drowned  before  help  could  reach  him. 
Even  his  body  was  never  recovered. 

A  few  days  later,  as  the  boat  passed  below  the  mouth 

81 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


of  the  Yellowstone,  a  small  camp  of  soldiers  was  discov- 
ered on  the  north  bank  of  the  Missouri.  It  proved  to  be 
occupied  by  Company  C,  13th  (later  22nd)  U.  S.  Infantry, 
under  Captain  W.  G.  Rankin.  The  13th  Infantry  had 
come  up  from  St.  Louis  while  the  Luella  was  at  Fort 
Benton,  to  relieve  the  4th  U.  S.  Volunteers  and  the  50th 
Wisconsin,  regiments  of  Civil  War  veterans  which  had 
previously  been  garrisoning  the  river  forts  at  Randall, 
Sully,  Rice  and  Berthold.  Captain  Rankin  had  received 
orders  to  establish  a  new  post,  Fort  Buford,  at  or  near 
the  old  fur-trading  post  of  Fort  Union,  and  his  command 
of  seventy  men  was  set  ashore  here  by  a  steamboat  and 
left  to  shift  for  itself.  The  experience  of  the  little  handful 
of  brave  spirits  whose  duty  demanded  implicit  obedience 
to  orders  wherever  those  orders  might  lead  them,  was 
proving  extremely  hard.  Their  instructions  were  to  build 
a  post  and  they  set  about  it,  though  their  only  tools  were  a 
few  axes.  The  second  night  after  their  arrival  the  Indians 
attacked  the  camp,  but  after  a  sharp  fight,  in  which  one 
soldier  was  wounded,  they  were  repulsed.  The  next  day 
the  Indians  unsuccessfully  attempted  to  stampede  the 
cattle  herd,  and  from  that  time  forth  throughout  the  sum- 
mer scarcely  a  day  passed  when  there  was  not  a  skirmish 
with  the  hostiles.  The  men  kept  their  rifles  constantly 
beside  them  as  they  worked,  ready  to  drop  their  axes  in  an 
instant  and  turn  to  defend  their  lives  from  a  yelling  horde 
of  savages  who  swept  down  as  swiftly  as  shadows  from  the 
uplands,  circling  close  enough  to  fire  a  scattering  volley 
and  perhaps  pick  up  a  few  head  of  stock,  and  then  van- 


The  Troubles  of  a  Treasure  Ship 


ishing  as  they  had  come.  The  men  cutting  and  rafting 
building  logs  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  were  so  fre- 
quently attacked  that  a  heavy  guard  had  to  remain  with 
them  constantly  and,  even  thus  protected,  three  wood  cut- 
ters lost  their  lives  before  winter. 

The  Indians  engaged  in  the  depredations  were  Sioux, 
who  boasted  that  they  intended  to  annihilate  the  garrison. 
They  seemed  likely  to  succeed,  for  in  January,  1867, 
Sitting  Bull,  the  young  and  influential  medicine-man  of 
Red  Cloud's  army,  came  down  the  Yellowstone  and  join- 
ing the  Indians  already  before  Buford,  laid  close  siege  to 
the  post.  He  captured  the  sawmill  near  the  landing  and 
used  the  big,  circular  saw  for  a  war  drum.*  He  estab- 
lished his  sharpshooters  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river 
and  throughout  the  winter  made  it  so  dangerous  for  the 
soldiers  to  come  to  the  stream  after  water  that  they  were 
compelled  to  sink  wells  inside  the  stockade.  Several 
times  during  the  year  it  was  reported  in  the  East  that  the 
garrison  of  Fort  Buford  had  been  massacred.  But  the 
courageous  band  survived  the  winter  and  the  next  year 
was  so  largely  reenforced  as  to  make  it  safe  against  Indian 
attacks,  though  for  a  long  time  the  Sioux  continued  to  oc- 
casionally raid  the  herds  and  drive  away  stock. f 

When  he  brought  his  company  to  this  desolate  spot. 

Captain  Rankin  was  accompanied  by  his  wife,  a  young 

and  beautiful  Cuban  lady  whose  high-spirited  courage 

was  amply  demonstrated  by  the  manner  in  which  she  bore 

*  "Frontier  and  Indian  Life,"  Joseph  H.  Tavlor. 
t  "The  Army  of  the  United  States,"  edited  by'Gen.  Theo.  F.  Roden- 
bough  and  Major  William  L.  Haskin,  U.  S.  A. 

83 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  hardships  and  dangers  of  that  trying  year.  On  the 
day  that  the  Luella  touched  at  the  post,  Mrs.  Rankin  rode 
down  to  the  river  bank  on  horseback,  for  the  arrival  of  a 
steamboat  was  an  exciting  event  at  such  a  place.  The  post 
was  but  a  short  distance  back  from  the  bank  and  there 
were  soldiers  between  it  and  the  river,  and  also  about 
the  boat,  so  that  apparently  there  was  no  possible  danger. 
But  a  lurking  party  of  Indians  discovered  her  as  she  was 
riding  back  toward  the  fort,  and  sweeping  down,  endeav- 
ored to  surround  her.  She  urged  her  horse  forward  and 
after  a  short  but  desperate  race  succeeded  in  reaching  her 
husband  and  the  soldiers  who,  as  soon  as  they  saw  her 
peril,  had  snatched  up  their  weapons  and  rushed  out  to 
save  her  from  a  fate  too  horrible  to  contemplate.  Both 
Captain  Rankin  and  his  wife  became  warm  friends  of 
Captain  Marsh,  and  while  they  remained  at  Buford  he 
never  failed  to  visit  them  in  his  trips  up  and  down  the 
river. 

The  difficulties  experienced  in  establishing  Fort  Buford 
were  paralleled  in  the  founding  of  nearly  every  one  of  the 
early  river  posts.  Even  when,  after  vast  toil  and  hard- 
ship, they  were  at  last  completed,  so  inadequate  had  been 
the  tools  and  so  wretched  the  materials  available  for 
building  purposes  that  they  were  scarcely  habitable.  Colo- 
nel D.  B.  Sackett,  U.  S.  A.,  a  very  observant  officer  who 
ascended  the  Missouri  in  the  summer  of  1866  on  a  tour 
of  inspection,  reported*  all  of  them  above  Fort  Randall 
in  a  horrible  condition.  Their  buildings  were  made  en- 
*  In  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  1866-67. 

84 


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t-H 
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in 
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O 
» 
H 

OS 

/-< 

O 

w 

o 


The  Troubles  of  a  Treasure  Ship 

tirely  of  cottonwood  logs  with  dirt  floors  and  roofs  and  no 
windows,  as  there  were  no  casings  for  them  and  no  glass. 
Being  erected  close  to  the  river  bank  on  the  bottoms,  they 
were  liable  to  be  flooded  in  high  water,  while  the  rains  of 
summer  soaked  through  the  mud  roofs,  turning  the  floors 
to  puddles,  and  the  snows  of  winter  drove  in  between  the 
loosely-laid  logs,  burying  everything  in  an  icy  blanket. 
The  cottonwood  timber  decayed  rapidly,  necessitating 
frequent  repairs,  while  it  also  harbored  swarms  of  bedbugs, 
fleas  and  other  insects,  which  no  efforts  availed  to  exclude. 
Every  post  was  infested  with  rats  in  such  numbers  that 
they  constituted  a  veritable  plague.  It  was  impossible  to 
keep  either  provisions  or  forage  from  them  except  in 
metal-covered  cases,  for  they  would  gnaw  through  wood 
at  if  it  were  paper.  At  Fort  Rice,  Colonel  Sackett  esti- 
mated that  the  rats  destroyed  one  thousand  pounds  of 
corn  and  provisions  daily.  All  of  this  had  been  trans- 
ported into  the  country  from  a  long  distance  by  steamboat 
and  was  not  to  be  replaced  except  at  great  labor  and  cost. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  destructive  presence  of  the 
rats  was  for  a  number  of  years  one  of  the  chief  considera- 
tions which  deterred  the  military  authorities  from  sta- 
tioning a  cavalry  regiment  in  the  upper  country,  sorely 
as  one  was  needed  there.  It  is  small  wonder  that  under 
such  adverse  conditions  the  soldiers  of  the  volunteer  gar- 
risons grew  disheartened  and  careless  of  personal  appear- 
ance, as  Colonel  Sackett  reported,  wearing  unkempt 
beards  and  ragged  uniforms,  or  that  among  the  regulars 
who  followed  them,  desertions  became  unusually  frequent. 

85 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


Though  the  Luella  had  worked  clear  of  the  Milk  River 
bar  without  much  trouble,  her  immunity  from  such  mis- 
haps was  not  for  long.  Almost  immediately  after  leaving 
Captain  Rankin's  camp,  and  when  only  eleven  miles  from 
it,  she  again  went  aground  at  the  mouth  of  White  Earth 
River.  At  this  point  the  winding  Missouri  approaches 
the  high  bluflfs  bounding  its  valley  on  the  north,  and  runs 
for  a  distance  directly  at  their  base.  No  sooner  had  the 
boat  struck  than  a  party  of  Indians,  who  had  probably 
been  following  her  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  favorable 
opportunity  of  attack,  appeared  on  the  crest  of  the  bluff 
and  opened  a  hot  fire  upon  her.  They  were  almost 
directly  above  and  commanded  her  decks  completely. 
The  crew,  who  had  commenced  setting  spars  along  the 
sides  for  the  purpose  of  "  grasshoppering  "  her  over  the  bar, 
were  driven  from  their  work  and  forced  to  take  refuge 
under  cover.  It  was  impossible  to  move  her  without 
sparring,  and  Captain  Marsh  ordered  the  passengers,  all 
of  whom  were  well  armed,  to  the  upper,  or  "Texas"  deck 
to  engage  the  Indians  and  keep  them  back  from  the  edge 
of  the  bluff  while  the  crew  worked.  Their  efforts  were 
successful,  and  though  now  and  then  a  warrior  crept  near 
enough  to  fire,  the  crew  was  not  seriously  hampered,  and 
the  boat  was  eventually  freed  from  her  unpleasant  pre- 
dicament without  loss  of  life. 

The  practice  referred  to  above  of  sparring  a  boat  over 
an  obstructing  shoal  was  a  common  one  in  the  old  steam- 
boating  days  on  the  Missouri.  The  spars  were  long, 
heavy  timbers  resembling  telegraph  poles,  and  a  set  of 

86 


The  Troubles  of  a  Treasure  Ship 

them,  two  in  number,  were  always  carried  on  the  sides  of 
the  boat  near  the  bow  ready  for  use.  When  she  became 
lodged  on  a  bar,  the  spars  were  raised  and  set  in  the  river 
bottom,  like  posts,  their  tops  inclined  somewhat  toward 
the  bow.  Above  the  line  of  the  deck  each  was  rigged  with 
a  tackle-block  over  which  a  manila  cable  was  passed,  one 
end  being  fastened  to  the  gunwale  of  the  boat  and  the  other 
end  wound  around  the  capstan.  As  the  capstan  was 
turned  and  the  paddle-wheel  revolved,  the  boat  was  thus 
lifted  and  pushed  forward.  Then  the  spars  were  re-set 
farther  ahead  and  the  process  repeated  until  the  boat  was 
at  last  literally  lifted  over  the  bar.  From  the  grotesque 
resemblance  to  a  grasshopper  which  the  craft  bore  when 
her  spars  were  set,  and  from  the  fact  that  she  might  be 
said  to  move  forward  in  a  series  of  hops,  the  practice  came 
to  be  called  "grasshoppering."  It  was  only  one  of  the 
many  novel  expedients  often  necessarily  used  in  navi- 
gating those  shallow  waters. 


87 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   CAPTAIN   ENCOUNTERS   A   "  BAD   MAN" 

He  wasn't  no  saint  unih  a  gilt-edged  croum; 
His  language  would  shatter  a  church  steeple  down; 
He'd  a  thirst  in  his  throat  that  nothin'  could  drmim. 
An'  a  fist  like  a  blacksmith's  forge. 

SOME  days  after  the  skirmish  at  the  White  Earth, 
there  occurred  on  board  the  Luella  an  episode  well 
illustrating  the  characters  of  some  of  the  men  in 
the  floating  population  of  the  frontier.  One  evening  at 
the  supper  table  a  miner  named  Gilmore,  a  swaggering 
fellow  much  given  to  boasting  and  bullying,  became  in- 
volved in  a  violent  quarrel  with  another  passenger  over  a 
trifling  matter.  He  was  the  instigator  of  the  trouble,  and 
Captain  Marsh,  hurrying  to  quell  the  disturbance,  repri- 
manded him  soundly  and  threatened  to  put  him  ashore. 
The  rowdy  had  no  desire  to  be  left  alone  on  the  prairie, 
where  he  would  almost  certainly  be  discovered  and  killed 
by  the  Indians,  so  he  swallowed  his  resentment  and  be- 
came quiet  for  the  time.  But  to  others  he  breathed  ven- 
geance and  openly  avowed  that  he  intended  to  kill  the 
captain  at  the  first  opportunity. 

A  majority  of  the  passengers  were  law-abiding  men  who 
had  no  more  use  for  Gilmore  and  the  few  hardened  spirits 
who  consorted  with  him  than  the  captain  did,  and  one 

88 


The  Captain  Encounters  a  *'Bad  Man'* 

of  them,  a  young  man  of  the  name  of  Paine,  who  had 
overheard  Gilmore,  came  to  the  captain  and  informed 
him  of  the  ruffian's  threats. 

"Oh,  never  mind  that  fellow,"  said  the  captain.  "His 
actions  won't  reach  as  far  as  his  words." 

"His  actions  may  reach  pretty  far  if  he  gets  a  chance," 
answered  Paine  seriously,  and  he  offered  his  revolver  to 
the  captain.  The  latter,  who  never  made  a  practice  of 
carrying  small  arms,  had  none  of  his  own,  and  after  some 
persuasion  he  accepted  the  revolver  and  kept  it  by  him  to 
be  prepared  for  emergencies. 

It  was  quite  obvious  that  Gilmore  was  harboring  his 
anger  until  a  favorable  moment  should  arrive  for  seeking 
revenge,  and  this  was  not  long  in  coming.  In  a  few  days 
the  Luella  passed  beyond  the  Indian-haunted  wilderness 
and  came  into  the  sparsely  settled  regions  below  Fort 
Randall.  Here  one  afternoon  the  boat  was  forced  to  go 
to  the  bank  on  account  of  a  strong  head  wind,  and  as  she 
lay  there  a  number  of  the  passengers  got  off  to  amuse 
themselves  on  shore.  Among  them  were  Gilmore  and  his 
followers,  who  drew  a  mark  on  the  ground  and  began  a 
contest  of  broad-jumping.  While  thus  engaged  the  cap- 
tain passed  them,  going  out  with  a  party  of  the  crew  to 
cut  some  fuel  in  the  adjacent  timber,  as  was  customary 
whenever  the  boat  was  tied  up  for  any  length  of  time.  As 
he  passed,  Gilmore,  whose  courage  had  risen  since  the 
danger  from  Indians  was  over,  turned  to  one  of  his  friends 
and  ostentatiously  borrowing  the  latter's  revolver,  said  in 
a  loud  voice: 

89 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


"Watch  me  make  that  low-down  dog  of  a  captain 
jump  the  mark." 

In  his  earnest  desire  to  keep  the  peace,  the  captain  had 
thus  far  permitted  Gilmore  to  swagger  unmolested.  But 
this  last  insult  was  more  than  he  would  stand.  Drawing 
Paine 's  revolver,  he  walked  over  to  where  Gilmore  stood, 
surrounded  by  his  companions,  and  looking  the  fellow 
squarely  in  the  eyes,  said: 

"Gilmore,  I  heard  what  you  called  me  just  then,  and 
the  time's  come  for  us  to  have  a  settlement.  You've  been 
looking  for  trouble  all  this  trip  and  now  you're  going  to 
get  it.  I'm  willing  you  should  have  a  fair  chance,  so 
come  over  here  and  fight,"  and  he  pointed  to  a  clear  space 
where  there  was  ample  room  for  a  pistol  duel. 

But  the  bare  suggestion  was  too  much  for  Gilmore. 
His  boastfulness  left  him  instantly,  his  face  grew  pale, 
and  he  began  to  tremble  visibly.  The  captain  there- 
upon stepped  up  to  him  and  slapped  him  full  in  the 
face. 

"Now  will  you  fight,  you  coward.'^"  he  demanded. 

"Oh,  captain,  I  didn't  mean  anything,"  whimpered 
Gilmore.     "I  don't  want  to  fight." 

The  captain's  fury  was  getting  the  better  of  him.  He 
cried : 

"If  you  won't  fight,  then  I'll  kill  you  right  here!" 

But  his  own  friends  now  interfered.  Paine  laid  a  re- 
straining hand  on  his  shoulder,  saying: 

"He's  nothing  but  a  contemptible  coward.  Marsh. 
Don't  kill  a  coward.     If  he  was  a  brave  man  we'd  insist 

90 


The  Captain  Encounters  a  '"Bad  Man^* 

on  your  killing  him,  but  don't  you  dirty  your  hands  with 
a  sneak." 

By  a  great  effort  the  captain  controlled  himself  and 
allowed  the  crestfallen  "bad  man"  to  go,  since  his  con- 
duct had  now  made  him  an  object  of  ridicule  to  even  his 
own  associates. 

Several  days  later  the  Luella  reached  Sioux  City.  Cap- 
tain Marsh  was  busy  for  some  time  about  the  landing  and 
then  walked  uptown  with  some  friends.  Most  of  the  pas- 
sengers had  left  the  boat  immediately  on  reaching  the  bank 
and  gone  out  to  view  the  village.  On  entering  a  saloon 
not  far  from  the  levee  the  captain  found  a  number  of 
men  within  and  among  them  discovered  Gilmore,  seated 
at  a  table  in  the  rear  of  the  room.  Without  appearing  to 
notice  him,  the  captain  ordered  drinks  for  the  crowd  and 
invited  every  one  to  step  up  to  the  bar.  All  complied  with 
alacrity  excepting  Gilmore,  who  sullenly  kept  his  seat. 
Captain  Marsh,  who  felt  that  the  fellow  had  suffered 
enough  and  was  willing  to  restore  good  feeling,  turned  to 
him  and  said: 

"Come  on  up,  Gilmore,  and  drink  with  me." 

"No,  sir,"  answered  the  other,  with  a  sour  glance,  "I 
won't  drink  with  you." 

His  manner  roused  afresh  the  captain's  ire,  and  pick- 
ing up  a  heavy  beer  glass  he  stepped  over  and  exclaimed : 

"  Gilmore,  you  come  up  here  now  and  drink  or,  by  the 
Eternal,  I'll  break  this  glass  over  your  skull!" 

Again  the  ruffian  showed  the  white  feather  in  the  face  of 
a  jeering  crowd  and  meekly  went  to  the  bar  to  drink  at 

91 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  expense  of  the  man  whom  he  had  found  to  his  cost 
that  bravado  could  not  intimidate.  So  completely  was  he 
cowed  that  a  little  later  he  came  to  the  captain  privately 
to  beg  that  he  be  not  put  off  the  boat  before  she  reached 
St.  Louis,  to  which  point  he  had  paid  his  passage,  as  he 
knew  of  no  other  way  to  get  down.  His  plea  was  granted 
with  the  express  understanding  that  if  he  caused  the 
slightest  disturbance  during  the  remainder  of  the  trip  he 
would  be  immediately  set  ashore.  But  either  the  diffi- 
culty he  experienced  in  behaving  himself  or  the  open 
contempt  of  his  shipmates  must  have  finally  become  in- 
supportable, for  at  Omaha  he  left  the  boat  and  never 
returned,  much  to  the  gratification  of  every  one. 

The  remainder  of  the  voyage  was  without  incident,  and 
the  Luella  arrived  safely  at  St.  Louis  about  October  5th, 
clearing  on  her  trip  $24,000,  which  is  a  fair  example  of 
the  profits  of  Missouri  River  steamboating  in  those  days. 


92 


CHAPTER  XIII 

BLOCKADED    BY    BUFFALO 

The  firm  ground  shakes  with  the  pounding  feet 
Of  bellowing  bison  in  mad  retreat. 
And  the  panic  of  smaller  things. 

IN  the  eager  contest  for  the  glittering  prizes  of  the 
mountain  trade  it  had  been  Captain  Marsh's  fortune 
on  the  trip  of  the  Luella  to  establish  the  record  for 
the  richest  cargo  ever  floated  down  the  Big  Muddy.  But 
the  following  year  he  was  destined  to  make  another  record 
of  a  nature  calculated  to  be  still  more  pleasing  to  the  for- 
tunate steamboat  owner  who  had  secured  his  services. 
This  record  was  in  the  matter  of  net  profits  for  the  sea- 
son's work,  and  the  boat  to  whose  credit  it  went  was  the 
Ida  StocJcdale,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.  She  was  the  property  of 
Captain  R.  S.  Calhoun,  of  that  city,  and  surely  no  man  had 
reason  to  feel  more  gratification  over  a  business  venture 
than  he,  for  when  he  balanced  his  accounts  at  the  close  of 
the  season  he  found  that  she  had  earned  him  in  her  five 
months'  work  $42,594  above  all  expenses — nearly  twice 
her  own  rated  value  and  far  more  than  was  made  by  any 
other  of  the  thirty-nine  boats  which  made  the  round  trip 
to  Benton  that  year. 

93 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


The  boat  had  been  built  under  the  personal  direction  of 
Captain  Marsh  during  the  previous  winter,  and  several 
causes  contributed  to  the  success  of  this,  her  first  trip, 
though  the  chief  of  these  was  the  reputation  gained  by  the 
captain  in  1866  as  a  skillful  navigator  and  considerate 
first-officer,  which  enabled  him  to  fill  his  boat  with  the 
best  class  of  trade  both  going  to  and  returning  from  the 
mountains.  Captain  Calhoun  accompanied  him,  though 
he  made  the  voyage  for  pleasure  only  and  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  management  of  the  boat,  having  hired  Captain 
Marsh  at  a  salary  of  $1,200  per  month  to  assume  entire 
control. 

The  Stockdale  made  the  run  to  Fort  Benton  without 
special  incident,  arriving  there  on  June  16th,  having 
encountered  no  trouble  from  Indians  on  the  way  up,  and 
after  loading  with  a  valuable  cargo,  started  on  her  return. 
One  August  afternoon  she  was  bowling  along  at  a  good 
rate  through  a  left-hand  timber  bend  about  220  miles 
below  Fort  Buford,  when  without  warning  the  roar  of 
a  cannon  burst  out,  re-echoing  against  the  bluffs,  and  a 
cloud  of  white  smoke  floated  up  over  the  left  shore. 
Awaiting  no  further  invitation,  Captain  Marsh  swung  the 
boat  into  the  bank.  A  short  distance  back  from  the  tim- 
ber he  found  encamped  Companies  H  and  I,  22nd  Infan- 
try, and  C,  D  and  F,  10th  Infantry,*  while  at  the  edge  of 
the  water  stood  General  Alfred  H.  Terry,  commanding 
the  Department  of  Dakota,  with  his  staff  and  several 
other  prominent  officers,  including  Major  C.  B.  Comstock, 
*  "The  Army  of  the  United  States." 

94 


Blockaded  by  Buffalo 


of  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  S.  B. 
Holabird,  Department  Quartermaster-General.  Accom- 
panied by  the  troops,  General  Terry  had  come  overland 
from  St.  Paul  for  the  purpose  of  locating  several  new 
posts. 

Colonel  Holabird  at  once  came  on  board  and  informed 
Captain  Marsh  that  he  wished  to  charter  the  boat  to  con- 
vey General  Terry  and  staff  to  Fort  Benton.  The  cap- 
tain had  already  done  an  excellent  business,  and  was 
anxious  to  get  back  to  St.  Louis  as  soon  as  possible.  But 
after  discussing  the  situation  with  Colonel  Holabird  and 
pointing  out  to  him  that  such  a  long  delay  might  operate 
to  the  financial  loss  of  the  boat,  a  contract  was  finally 
made  between  them  for  the  use  of  the  Stockdale,  the  char- 
ter to  extend  until  she  arrived  at  Sioux  City.  The  Colonel 
further  agreed  to  furnish  a  detail  of  ten  soldiers,  together 
with  two  mules  and  a  wagon,  to  assist  the  crew  in  getting 
fuel  for  the  boat  throughout  the  trip,  this  detail  afterward 
proving  of  great  utility,  especially  in  the  sparsely  timbered 
regions  between  Buford  and  Benton,  where  wood  had  to 
be  procured  several  miles  from  the  river.  Although  any 
army  officer  engaged  in  the  performance  of  military  duties 
was  at  liberty  when  he  needed  a  steamer  to  seize  the  first 
one  which  happened  along  and  to  keep  it  as  long  as  re- 
quired, he  was  also  bound  to  arrange  that  she  should 
receive  fair  recompense  from  the  Government  for  such 
involuntary  services.  The  per  diem  awarded  the  Ida 
Stockdale  was  liberal,  and  insured  her  against  loss,  but 
General  Terry  and  Colonel  Holabird  were  glad  to  ac- 

95 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


knowledge  before  the  trip  was  ended  that  the  Govern- 
ment was  the  gainer  by  their  having  found  so  excellent  a 
craft,  and  so  capable  a  navigator  as  Captain  Marsh  to 
handle  her. 

When  the  officers  had  come  on  board,  the  Stockdale 
went  on  down  to  Fort  Rice  after  Colonel  Reeve,  the  com- 
mander of  the  13th  Infantry,  and  then  turned  about  and 
headed  for  Fort  Benton.  On  passing  again  the  camp  of 
General  Terry's  troops,  the  men  were  found  cutting  timber 
and  making  other  preparations  for  the  construction  of  a 
fort.  Already  they  were  beginning  to  undergo  trials  from 
incessant  Indian  attacks  similar  to  those  which  had  been 
suffered  by  Captain  Rankin's  men  at  Fort  Buford  the  year 
before,  but  they  were  cheerfully  making  the  best  of  a  bad 
situation.  The  boat  passed  on,  and  continued  up  the 
river  at  a  good  speed  until  a  point  was  reached  about  125 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  where  she  was 
brought  to  a  stop  under  most  peculiar  circumstances. 

Along  this  section  of  the  river  the  bluffs  of  the  north 
bank  recede  several  miles  from  the  channel  and  the  inter- 
vening space  stretches  away  in  a  vast,  flat  meadow,  covered 
in  summer  with  luxuriant  grasses.  In  the  midst  of  the 
meadow  and  about  a  mile  from  the  river  stood  a  small, 
compact  grove  of  large  timber  to  which  in  the  spring  of 
the  year  herds  of  elk  came  from  every  direction  to  shed 
their  horns.  From  this  circumstance  the  steamboat  men 
had  named  the  whole  bottom  Elk  Horn  Prairie,  and  it 
was  quite  usual  for  descending  boats  to  stop  there  in  order 
that  the  passengers  might  visit  the  grove  and  gather  sets 

96 


Blockaded  by  Bvffalo 


of  elk  horns  for  their  friends  in  the  States.  The  meadow 
was  also  a  favorite  grazing  place  for  the  herds  of  buffalo 
which  frequented  this  entire  region.  Though  these  ani- 
mals were  so  numerous  throughout  Dakota  and  Montana 
that  some  of  them  were  almost  constantly  visible  from 
passing  steamboats,  either  grazing  on  the  open  prairie  or 
resting  and  wallowing  near  the  river,  it  was  in  the  country 
above  the  Yellowstone  that  they  appeared  in  greatest 
numbers,  for  here  they  were  accustomed  to  pass  on  their 
northern  and  southern  migrations  in  the  spring  and 
autumn. 

As  the  Stockdale  approached  Elk  Horn  Prairie,  the  buf- 
falo increased  rapidly  in  number  on  either  bank.  Vast 
herds,  extending  away  to  the  horizon  line  of  the  north- 
ward bluffs,  were  moving  slowly  toward  the  river,  grazing 
as  they  came.  On  arriving  at  the  river's  brink  they 
hesitated  and  then,  snorting  and  bellowing,  plunged  into 
the  swift-running  current  and  swam  to  the  opposite  shore. 
When  the  Stockdale  reached  a  point  nearly  opposite  the 
Elk  Horn  grove,  excitement  rose  to  a  high  pitch  on  board, 
for  the  buffalo  became  so  thick  in  the  river  that  the  boat 
could  not  move,  and  the  engines  had  to  be  stopped.  In 
front  the  channel  was  blocked  by  their  huge,  shaggy 
bodies,  and  in  their  struggles  they  beat  against  the  sides 
and  stern,  blowing  and  pawing.  Many  became  entangled 
with  the  wheel,  which  for  a  time  could  not  be  revolved 
without  breaking  the  buckets.  As  they  swept  toward  the 
precipitous  bank  of  the  north  shore  and  plunged  over  into 
the  stream,  clouds  of  dust  arose  from  the  crumbling  earth 

97 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


while  the  air  trembled  with  their  bellowings  and  the  roar 
of  their  myriad  hoofs.  The  south  bank  was  turned  to  a 
liquid  mass  of  mud  by  the  water  streaming  from  their 
sides  as  they  scrambled  out  and  thundered  away  across  the 
prairie.  To  Captain  Marsh  and  the  others  on  the  Stock- 
dale  it  seemed  almost  as  if  they  would  overwhelm  the  boat. 
No  one  on  board  cared  to  shoot  among  them,  for  the  sight 
of  them  was  too  awe-inspiring  a  demonstration  of  the 
physical  might  of  untamed  brute  creation.  Several  hours 
elapsed  before  the  Stockdale  was  able  to  break  through  the 
migrating  herds  and  resume  her  journey,  and  they  were 
still  crossing  when  at  last  she  passed  beyond  view.  At 
Fort  Benton  General  Terry  and  the  other  officers,  with 
the  exception  of  Colonal  Holabird,  left  the  boat  and  pro- 
ceeded by  the  wagon-roads  to  the  mining  settlements  in 
the  interior,  while  the  Stockdale  immediately  turned  about 
and  started  on  her  return  to  Sioux  City. 


98 


CHAPTER  XIV 

A   GAME   OF  STRATEGY 

A  yelping  Injun,  daubed  with  day. 
He  isn't  nice  to  see. 

IN  due  season  the  boat  arrived  at  the  point  where  she 
had  been  brought  to  by  the  cannon-shot  on  her 
previous  down  trip,  and  found  the  troops  there  mak- 
ing but  slow  progress  on  the  buildings  of  the  new  post, 
which  had  been  named  Fort  Stevenson.  The  soldiers 
were  greatly  hampered  by  the  necessity  of  bringing  their 
large  building  logs  in  wagons  from  the  heavy  timber,  none 
of  which  was  within  several  miles  of  the  post,  and  the  work 
was  further  impeded  by  the  fact  that  a  great  proportion  of 
the  men  had  to  act  as  escorts  for  the  working  parties. 

The  Stockdale  stopped  at  Fort  Stevenson  for  one  day, 
and  during  the  afternoon  a  fusillade  of  shots  was  suddenly 
heard  out  on  the  prairie  where  the  live  stock  were  grazing. 
The  animals  broke  into  wild  commotion,  scattering  in 
every  direction,  and  it  was  seen  that  a  throng  of  mounted 
Indians  was  rushing  down  upon  them  from  the  bluffs. 
As  Captain  Marsh  and  his  men  sprang  ashore  from  the 
boat  they  could  see  the  mounted  herders  galloping  about 
on  the  prairie  in  a  desperate  attempt  to  round  the  stam- 
peding herd  into  the  corral,  at  the  same  time  returning  the 

99 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


fire  of  their  on-coming  assailants  as  vigorously  as  their 
small  number  would  permit.  The  soldiers  about  the 
buildings  caught  up  their  weapons  and  ran  forward  to  the 
assistance  of  their  hard-pressed  comrades.  Before  their 
fearless  advance  the  Indians  broke  and  fled,  but  not  until 
their  crackling  rifles  had  sent  several  of  the  infantrymen 
pitching  headlong  into  the  short  prairie  grass,  while  their 
dissolving  line  of  ponies  whirled  up  and  swept  away  to 
the  hills  before  them  a  number  of  the  stampeded  animals 
so  sorely  needed  by  the  little  garrison  for  the  long  winter 
months  which  were  fast  approaching. 

It  was  now  late  in  the  autumn,  and  the  buildings  of 
Fort  Stevenson  were  not  nearly  completed.  For  weeks 
after  the  Ida  Stockdale  had  hurried  down  the  river  to 
escape  the  freeze-up,  the  soldiers  of  this  isolated  post  were 
obliged  to  continue  living  in  the  tents  which  they  had 
occupied  since  their  first  arrival.  Winter  had  long  since 
commenced,  and  the  snow  was  deep  upon  the  ground 
before  the  new  quarters  were  at  last  made  habitable. 
The  troops  moved  in  none  too  soon,  for  they  had  scarcely 
done  so  when  a  fierce  blizzard,  accompanied  by  high  wind 
and  bitter  cold,  swept  down  from  the  north,  enveloping 
the  post  in  its  smothering  blanket  for  four  days.  The 
scanty  supply  of  fuel  gave  out,  and  as  it  was  impossible 
to  procure  more  until  the  storm  abated,  the  ofiicers  had 
to  break  up  their  furniture  and  burn  it  to  keep  themselves 
and  their  men  from  freezing.*  Such  were  some  of  the 
many  hardships  endured  by  the  gallant  and  uncomplain- 
*  "The  Army  of  the  United  States." 

100 


A  Game  of  Strategy 


ing  boys  in  blue  who  patiently  paved  the  way  for  civiliza- 
tion over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  great  West. 

The  Stockdale  cast  off  her  lines  an  hour  or  so  after  the 
skirmish,  and  resumed  her  journey.  Captain  Marsh  was 
at  the  wheel  and  Colonel  Holabird  and  Captain  Calhoun 
were  sitting  on  the  pilot-house  bench  behind  him  when 
the  boat  swung  into  the  head  of  a  long,  left-hand  bend 
about  twenty  miles  below  the  fort.  On  the  right  bank  a 
high  precipice,  in  more  recent  years  named  Plenty  Coal 
Bluff,  extended  for  a  mile  or  more  directly  above  the  water. 
The  left  bank  was  low  and  timbered,  and  between  them 
a  large,  wooded  island  cut  the  river  into  two  narrow  chan- 
nels, while  opposite  the  foot  of  the  island  the  bluff  swung 
back  from  the  river,  leaving  a  low,  timbered  shore  at  its 
base.  The  spot  was  a  favorite  crossing-place  for  the  In- 
dians, as  the  two  narrow  channels  were  easy  to  pass, 
either  by  swimming  or  in  bull-boats.* 

As  the  Stockdale  unsuspectingly  headed  the  bend  she 
suddenly  received  a  scattering  volley  of  rifle  shots  from  the 
timber  bank  on  her  left.  Captain  Marsh,  looking  down 
the  river  ahead,  discovered  Indians  swimming  horses 
across  both  channels  to  the  south  shore,  and  at  once  real- 
ized that  the  boat  had  encountered  the  recent  assailants 
of  Fort  Stevenson  making  away  with  their  plunder.  The 
captain  laid  the  boat  over  to  the  south  bank  and  soon  got 
beyond  range  of  the  enemy  in  the  timber,  but  just  what  to 
do  next  he  did  not  know.     Therefore  he  signaled  the  engi- 

*  Bowl-shaped  boats  of  buffalo  hide  stretched  over  a  willow  frame 
and  made  water-tight  by  smearing  grease  over  the  outside. 


101 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


neer  to  stop  the  wheel,  and  held  a  council  of  war  with 
Holabird  and  Calhoun.  By  this  time  a  number  of  the 
Indians  had  reached  the  south  shore,  and  could  be  seen 
moving  about  there  and  making  their  way  to  the  crest  of 
the  bluffs.  The  channel  invariably  followed  by  boats  was 
the  one  down  past  the  bluff,  but  it  would  have  been  fool- 
hardiness  to  attempt  it  now  with  the  enemy  in  a  position 
to  fire  directly  through  the  pilot-house  roof,  which  was  not 
protected  like  the  sides  by  boiler-iron  bulwarks.  It 
seemed  quite  as  dangerous,  however,  to  attempt  the  left- 
hand  channel,  since  this  had  never  been  run  and  might 
prove  full  of  snags  and  sandbars  and  to  be  entirely  un- 
navigable.  If  it  did,  the  boat  would  be  left  helpless  in 
the  midst  of  the  Indians,  who  lined  both  banks  of  this 
channel  also  and  would  quickly  shoot  down  any  one  who 
exposed  himself. 

The  situation  was  embarrassing,  but  after  considerable 
deliberation,  the  captain  and  his  advisers  decided  that 
the  left  channel  offered  the  best  chances  for  success.  The 
Siockdale's  head  was  accordingly  turned  toward  it,  and 
she  moved  cautiously  forward  into  the  unknown  waters. 
From  either  bank  as  she  entered  the  chute,  the  rifles  of  the 
Indians  crackled  out,  their  bullets  crashing  through  her 
fragile  woodwork.  With  throbbing  heart  but  steady  hand, 
Captain  Marsh  turned  the  wheel,  his  practiced  eyes  scan- 
ning the  water  in  front  for  the  faintest  riffle  of  hidden 
snag  or  shoaling  bar.  Behind  him  the  cool-headed  army 
officer  and  the  steamer's  owner  stood  with  tense  muscles, 
watching,  helpless  to  aid,  yet  fearing  each  moment  to  feel 

102 


A  Game  of  Strategy 


the  grinding  jar  which  would  spell  destruction  for  them 
all.  But  their  trust  in  their  pilot  was  implicit,  and  they 
knew  that  if  any  man  could  carry  the  boat  through  to 
safety,  he  was  the  one  who  now  stood  at  the  wheel. 

Down  in  the  engine-room,  the  captain's  brother,  Mon- 
roe Marsh,  was  calmly  handling  his  levers  and  answering 
the  pilot's  bells,  while  the  bullets  kicked  splinters  in  his 
face  from  the  stanchions  along  the  sides  and  the  firemen 
cowered  in  the  shelter  of  the  wood-piles.  Once  or  twice 
the  boat's  flat  bottom  scraped  on  a  bar;  once  or  twice  a 
jagged  snag  was  just  avoided,  but  at  last  the  captain 
could  see  ahead  the  tapering,  sandy  foot  of  the  island  and 
the  reunited  waters  of  the  river  stretching  away  below. 
Slowly  the  Stockdale  glided  from  her  narrow  prison,  the 
fire  of  the  baffled  savages  slackened  and  ceased,  and  the 
gallant  little  craft  swept  out  in  safety  upon  deeper  waters, 
with  nothing  worse  than  a  few  score  bullet  holes  through 
her  framework  by  which  to  remember  her  dangerous 
adventure. 

Colonel  Holabird,  whose  friendship  and  respect  for  the 
captain  were  greatly  enhanced  by  this  experience,  left  the 
boat  at  Sioux  City,  after  releasing  her  from  her  Govern- 
ment charter,  and  she  went  on  to  St.  Louis  where  she  laid 
up  for  the  winter,  having  been  gone  six  months  and  ten 
days.  Captain  Marsh  also  remained  in  St.  Louis  with  his 
family,  while  Captain  Calhoun,  pocketing  his  handsome 
profits,  which  had  been  considerably  augmented  by  the 
Stock-dale's  tour  of  military  duty,  returned  to  his  home  in 
Pittsburg.     Captain  Marsh  was  as  well  satisfied  as  was 

103 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


the  boat's  owner  with  the  results  of  his  season's  work. 
From  his  monthly  salary  of  $1,200  he  had  paid  two  steers- 
men $125  per  month  each,  leaving  him  $950  clear,  which 
was  considerably  more  than  any  other  upper  Missouri 
River  pilot  had  ever  received. 


104 


CHAPTER  XV 

ICE-BOUND   ON   THE   NILE 

The  last,  lone  summer  bird,  unth  mournful  cry 
Fled  from  the  freezing  plains  on  frightened  wing. 
And  winter,  leaping  from  his  Arctic  throne. 
Closed  his  titanic  grip  on  all  tfie  land. 

IN  the  spring  of  1868  the  captain  secured  the  steamer 
Nile,  a  St.  Louis  stern-wheeler  of  Hght  draft, 
with  which  he  made  a  quick  trip  to  Fort  Benton, 
arriving  there  on  May  21st,  the  fourth  boat  in.  The  re- 
turn trip  was  made  soon  thereafter,  and  he  was  back  in 
St.  Louis  by  midsummer,  though  not  in  time  to  undertake 
a  second  voyage  to  Benton.  He  therefore  engaged  in  the 
lower-river  trade,  expecting  to  remain  in  it  during  the 
balance  of  the  season.  But  late  in  the  fall  an  unexpected 
event  called  him  once  more  to  the  upper  waters. 

Early  that  year  the  Indian  Commission  appointed  for 
the  purpose  had  made  the  treaty  with  Red  Cloud,  chief  of 
the  Ogalalla  Sioux,  whereby  the  Montana  Road  was  offi- 
cially closed  to  immigration.  The  Fourth  Article  of  this 
treaty  provided  for  the  establishment  of  a  large  agency  on 
the  Missouri  River  near  the  center  of  the  Indian  lands, 
where  a  school  should  be  built  for  the  education  of  Indian 
children,  warehouses  erected  for  the  housing  of  annuity 

105 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


goods,  and  Government  officers  appointed  for  the  proper 
transaction  of  business  with  all  Indians  congregating  there. 
Instead  of  a  single  large  agency,  the  Government  decided 
upon  the  establishment  of  three  smaller  ones;  the  first  at 
the  mouth  of  Whetstone  Creek,  twenty  miles  above  Fort 
Randall,  another  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Chey- 
enne River,  270  miles  further  up,  and  the  last  just  above 
the  mouth  of  Grand  River,  eighty-six  miles  below  Fort 
Rice. 

The  decision  to  place  the  agencies  at  the  points  named 
was  not  arrived  at  until  late  in  the  summer,  and  it  then 
became  necessary  to  send  up  the  annuity  goods  destined 
for  them  in  great  haste  if  these  were  not  to  be  stopped  by 
the  freezing  of  the  river.  As  so  often  happened  in  later 
years  when  any  task  of  unusual  difficulty  was  to  be  per- 
formed. Captain  Marsh  was  called  upon  to  carry  the  goods 
to  the  most  distant  agency  of  the  three.  Grand  River.  The 
Nile  was  loaded  and  the  start  made  with  as  little  delay  as 
possible,  but  in  spite  of  all  efforts  she  did  not  get  away 
from  St.  Louis  until  October  15th.  The  captain  was 
satisfied  when  he  started  that  he  could  not  deliver  his 
cargo  at  its  destination,  but  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment insisted  on  his  making  the  effort.  The  Government 
was  urgently  desirous  of  carrying  out  its  treaty  agreements 
in  this,  the  first  winter  after  they  had  been  entered  into, 
hoping  by  such  an  exhibition  of  good  faith  to  pacify  the 
hostile  element  among  the  Indians. 

That  the  judgment  of  Captain  Marsh  was  to  be  proved 
correct  became  evident  almost  from  the  moment  of  the 

106 


Ice-Bound  on  the  '^ Nile*' 


Nile's  start.  As  always  at  this  season  of  the  year,  the 
river  was  very  low  and  as  the  boat  was  riding  deep  in  the 
water  with  her  heavy  cargo,  her  progress  was  propor- 
tionately slow.  But  notwithstanding  the  narrow  channel 
and  numberless  shoals,  she  succeeded  in  getting  140  miles 
above  Fort  Randall  without  mishap.  Here,  however,  at 
a  point  in  the  loop  of  the  Great  Bend  of  the  Missouri 
called  St.  John's,  or  Cul-de-Sac,  Island,  it  became  impos- 
sible to  go  on  without  lightening  the  boat.  A  landing  was 
therefore  made  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  cargo 
discharged  upon  the  island,  where  it  was  secreted  in  the 
timber  and  covered  with  tarpaulins.  Thus  relieved,  the 
Nile  pushed  on  150  miles  farther,  to  Cheyenne  River 
Agency,  where  she  was  brought  to  a  final  standstill,  as  the 
weather  had  turned  very  cold  and  the  ice  was  running 
heavily. 

It  was  now  obvious  not  only  to  Captain  Marsh  but  to 
every  one  else  on  board  that  Grand  River  Agency  could 
not  be  reached  that  winter.  So  the  remainder  of  the  cargo 
was  put  ashore  at  the  Cheyenne,  and  the  Nile  turned 
southward  in  a  determined  effort  to  escape  before  she 
should  be  frozen  in.  No  boat  had  ever  wintered  on  the 
upper  Missouri  and  it  was  deemed  impossible  that  one 
could  do  so,  owing  to  the  presence  of  hostile  Indians  who 
might  destroy  her  as  she  lay  in  the  ice.  The  Nile  labored 
down  the  river  surrounded  by  ever-increasing  floes,  until, 
in  a  reach  about  four  miles  below  the  site  of  the  present 
city  of  Chamberlain  and  three  miles  from  the  ruins  of  the 
old    Missouri   Fur  Company's  Fort    Recovery  she  was 

107 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


forced  to  give  up  the  struggle.  With  difficulty  Captain 
Marsh  pushed  her  through  the  closing  ice  until  she  lay 
against  the  eastern  bank  where  she  would  be  as  far  as 
possible  removed  from  the  hostiles  who  frequented  the 
other  shore,  and  here  he  and  his  crew  prepared  to  make 
themselves  as  comfortable  as  circumstances  would  per- 
mit during  the  long  winter  months. 

Unfortunately  a  large  band  of  the  Lower  Brule  Indians, 
among  the  most  unruly  of  the  Sioux,  had  gone  into  winter 
camp  almost  opposite  the  place  where  the  boat  was  com- 
pelled to  stop.  The  proximity  of  neighbors  of  such 
dubious  temper  was  at  best  not  calculated  to  add  to  the 
peace  of  mind  of  the  boat's  company,  even  though  they 
were  confident  that  they  would  be  able  to  protect  them- 
selves in  case  of  trouble.  In  reality  there  was  little  to  be 
feared  from  the  Indians,  who  were  on  good  behavior  since 
they  were  depending  almost  entirely  for  their  winter's 
sustenance  upon  the  supplies  issued  to  them  at  Fort 
Thompson,  the  Crow  Creek  Indian  Agency,  twenty-five 
miles  above.  Fort  Thompson  was  the  nearest  habitation 
of  white  men  to  the  little  party  on  the  Nile,  and  Captain 
Marsh  and  his  crew  came  to  be  frequent  visitors  at  the 
place,  generally  going  for  the  purpose  of  buying  provisions, 
but  sometimes  merely  to  relieve  the  monotony  of  their 
daily  existence  by  a  social  call. 

Major  Joseph  R.  Hanson,  chief  agent  for  all  the  Sioux 
along  the  river,  whose  headquarters  were  at  Fort  Thomp- 
son, was  a  close  personal  friend  of  Captain  Marsh,  but  he 
was  absent  that  winter  in  Washington  with  a  delegation 

108 


Ice-Bound  on  the  ''Nile*' 


of  Sioux  chiefs  whom  he  had  taken  there  on  a  visit  to  the 
Great  Father,  as  the  Indians  called  the  President.  How- 
ever, in  his  absence  his  sub-agent  at  Crow  Creek,  "  Jud  " 
Lamoure,  proved  a  most  gracious  host,  welcoming  all 
guests  to  the  homely  cheer  of  the  agency  with  true  western 
hospitality.  Mr.  Lamoure  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting 
the  Brule  camp,  which  lay  near  the  steamboat,  about  once 
a  week,  to  oversee  the  issue  of  rations,  and  on  these  occa- 
sions he  would  spend  the  night  on  the  Nile  with  Captain 
Marsh,  returning  to  Fort  Thompson  next  day.  They  be- 
came good  friends  and  at  last  on  one  of  his  visits  Lamoure 
invited  Captain  Marsh  and  his  brother,  Monroe,  to  dine 
with  him  on  a  certain  day  at  the  agency,  saying  that  he 
had  been  presented  by  some  Indians  with  a  saddle  of 
excellent  venison  of  which  he  wished  them  to  partake. 
The  larder  of  the  Nile  had  been  empty  of  fresh  meat  for 
some  time,  and  the  invitation  was  accepted  with  alacrity. 
On  the  appointed  day  the  captain  and  his  brother 
appeared  promptly  for  the  feast,  their  appetites  sharpened 
by  their  twenty-mile  walk  across  the  prairie  and  river. 
The  table  was  bountifully  spread  with  such  good  things 
as  the  storehouses  could  provide,  the  central  feature  being 
a  steaming  stew,  whose  savory  odor  betokened  to  the  hun- 
gry men  venison  of  the  finest  quality.  They  seated  them- 
selves and  partook  liberally  of  the  unwonted  luxury,  which 
they  found  no  less  palatable  than  it  appeared.  After  the 
first  keen  edge  of  their  hunger  had  been  satisfied,  however, 
they  noticed  that  their  host  was  eating  only  bacon,  which 
was  also  on  the  table.     Upon  being  pressed  to  have  some 

109 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


of  the  venison,  he  replied  with  an  air  of  weariness  that  he 
had  been  served  with  it  so  often  of  late  that  he  had  grown 
tired  of  it.  The  two  steamboat  men  therefore  finished  the 
dish  themselves  and  departed  feeling  a  sense  of  deep  grati- 
tude toward  their  thoughtful  friend.  Thirty-eight  years 
afterward,  Captain  Marsh  read  in  a  newspaper  published 
in  North  Dakota,  where  "  Jud  "  Lamoure  still  resides,  a 
full  account  by  that  jovial  gentleman  of  the  occasion  on 
which  he  entertained  his  friends  from  the  steamboat  Nile 
at  a  dog  feast,  entirely  without  their  knowledge.  Upon 
completing  the  perusal  of  this  chronicle,  which  was  de- 
tailed with  much  relish,  the  captain  vowed  that  when 
next  he  set  foot  upon  the  soil  of  North  Dakota,  he  would 
seek  out  the  perfidious  Lamoure  and  challenge  him  to 
mortal  combat.  The  threatened  meeting,  however,  has 
not  yet  taken  place. 

Throughout  the  slow-passing  months  of  that  winter,  the 
captain  made  a  practice  of  visiting  once  every  two  weeks 
the  cache  of  annuity  goods  which  had  been  left  by  the  Nile 
on  Cul-de-Sac  Island,  to  see  that  these  remained  safe  and 
undisturbed.  From  the  harbor  of  the  Nile  to  Cul-de-Sac 
Island  was  forty-seven  miles  by  river,  though  overland 
it  was  only  about  two-thirds  of  this  distance.  As  it  was 
very  dangerous  to  travel  alone  through  the  Sioux  country, 
the  captain  was  always  accompanied  either  by  one  of  the 
men  from  the  boat  or  by  some  friendly  agency  Indian 
whom  he  would  meet  at  Crow  Creek  on  his  way  up.  A 
muscular  man,  in  the  prime  of  life,  he  keenly  enjoyed 
these  trips  over  the  gently  rolling  prairie  hills  and  along 

110 


Ice-Bound  on  the  *' Nile*' 


the  smooth  stretches  of  river  ice  swept  clean  by  the  winter 
winds.  He  was  fond  of  walking  and  had  done  so  much 
of  it  that  he  had  acquired  an  easy,  swinging  stride  which 
carried  him  over  the  ground  very  rapidly  without  in  the 
least  fatiguing  him.  Indeed,  so  tireless  was  he  that  he 
exhausted  most  of  his  traveling  companions  long  before 
they  reached  their  destination,  and  his  ability  as  a  pedes- 
trian soon  began  to  form  a  topic  for  conversation  around 
Crow  Creek.  At  that  time  walking  contests  were  greatly 
in  vogue  in  the  Eastern  States,  and  this  fact,  coupled  with 
the  monotony  of  daily  life  at  the  agency,  aroused  general 
interest  in  his  performances. 

At  length  "  Jud  "  Lamoure  and  the  post  traders.  Major 
DeWitt  and  E.  E.  Hudson,  put  their  heads  together  and 
decided  to  spring  a  surprise  on  the  unsuspecting  captain 
by  finding  a  walking  mate  for  him  who  would  treat  him 
as  he  had  treated  others.  They  canvassed  the  available 
material  and  settled  upon  an  Agency  Indian  named  Bad 
Moccasin,  whom  they  induced  to  accompany  the  captain 
on  his  next  trip  to  the  Island.  Every  one  in  that  country, 
white  as  well  as  red,  habitually  wore  moccasins,  and  the 
captain's  competitor  in  this  case  proved  to  be  aptly  named. 
Either  his  moccasins  or  some  other  portions  of  his  equip- 
ment were  evidently  bad,  for  they  had  not  proceeded  many 
miles  when  he  was  left  far  behind,  astonished  and  panting. 

Their  first  defeat  only  served  to  make  the  captain's 
friends  at  the  Agency  more  eager  to  find  for  him  a  rival 
who  could  beat  him.  Again  they  searched  the  field  and 
unearthed  a  Teutonic  employee  at  Fort  Thompson  known 

111 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


to  history  only  as  Dutch  Jake.  This  candidate  for  ath- 
letic honors  confidently  asserted  that  he  could  outwalk  any 
pedestrian  in  the  West,  and  they  decided  to  give  him  an 
opportunity  of  proving  it.  The  path  the  captain  always 
followed  after  leaving  the  Agency  led  straight  up  the  river 
bottom  for  a  distance  of  eight  miles  along  a  beaten  Indian 
travois  track.  It  then  crossed  the  river  and  went  up  the 
steep  bluflF  at  the  narrow  neck  of  the  Great  Bend,  down  on 
the  other  side  and  thence  followed  the  middle  of  the 
frozen  stream  to  the  Island.  Captain  Marsh  and  his  new 
comrade  had  no  sooner  left  the  Fort,  followed  by  the  in- 
terested eyes  of  the  assembled  settlement,  than  the  captain 
discovered  that  Jake  was  walking  with  the  intention  of 
beating  him.  For  the  first  few  miles  the  German  put 
forth  great  efforts,  and  the  captain  found  difficulty  in 
keeping  up.  He  said  nothing,  however,  and  continued 
his  usual  steady  stride.  As  they  turned  to  cross  the  river 
at  the  end  of  the  first  long  stretch,  Jake  began  to  show 
signs  of  weariness.  He  kept  on  doggedly,  nevertheless, 
until  they  reached  the  bottom  of  the  steep  bluff  and  began 
to  climb.  This  was  more  than  he  could  bear  and  he  com- 
menced to  fall  steadily  behind,  until,  when  the  captain 
reached  the  Island  he  could  see  Jake  laboring  along,  a 
mere  speck,  two  miles  back  on  the  shining  ice. 

This  second  discomfiture  drove  the  conspirators  to  des- 
peration. Determining  upon  a  final,  supreme  effort,  they 
sent  to  the  hostile  Brule  camp  for  an  Indian  whose  repu- 
tation as  a  pedestrian  was  known  far  and  wide.  Indeed, 
so  pre-eminently  was  it  his  chief  claim  to  distinction  that  it 

112 


l"lii>to»iraiih  b>  K.  L.  .M.ll.r. 

FAST  WALKER,  BIUI.E  SIOUX,  AS  HE  IS  TO-DAY 

(The  Indian  walked  from  Crow  Creek  Agency  to  ^Miller,  South 
Dakota,  a  distance  of  nearly  fifty  miles,  to  have  this  pic- 
ture taken  for  "the  book  about  his  friend,  Captain 
Marsh.") 


Ice-Bound  on  the  '^ Nile** 


had  even  given  him  his  name — Fast  Walker.  He  was  a 
slender,  wiry  fellow,  whose  130  pounds  of  weight  seemed 
composed  entirely  of  springy  muscles,  and  he  kept  himself 
in  the  best  of  condition  constantly.  Fast  Walker  was 
found  to  be  quite  willing  to  undertake  the  trip,  as  he  had 
been  intending  for  some  time  to  visit  some  of  his  relatives 
who  were  wintering  near  Fort  Bennett,  about  130  miles 
up  river,  and  the  contest  would  furnish  him  with  an  inter- 
esting incentive  at  the  beginning  of  the  journey.  He  and 
the  captain  started  from  Crow  Creek  early  one  morning, 
and  the  Indian,  who  traveled  at  a  trot,  began  to  take  the 
lead  at  once.  Captain  Marsh  imagined  that  he  would 
soon  tire  of  the  pace,  but  to  his  astonishment  Fast  Walker 
continued  to  gain  until  at  the  end  of  three  hours,  long 
before  the  captain  had  reached  the  Island,  the  Indian  had 
disappeared  from  view  over  the  horizon  and  was  seen  no 
more.  "  Jud  "  Lamoure  and  his  scheming  partners  had 
gained  a  victory  sufficiently  decisive  to  compensate  for 
their  two  defeats. 

Captain  Marsh  later  learned  that  Fast  Walker  reached 
Chapelle  Creek,  sixty  miles  north  of  Fort  Thompson,  on 
the  evening  of  the  race.  There  he  encamped  for  the  night 
and  the  next  night  he  was  with  his  relatives  at  Fort  Ben- 
nett, having  made  probably  as  remarkable  time  as  any  on 
record.  The  captain  afterward  saw  this  Indian  beat  a 
thoroughbred  horse  from  Fort  Thompson  to  American 
Creek,  a  distance  of  twenty-four  miles,  the  horse  leading 
for  the  first  ten  miles,  when  his  human  competitor  forged 
ahead  and  remained  there  to  the  end.     Years  later  the 

113 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


captain  wrote  to  his  friend  William  F.  Cody,  "Buffalo 
Bill,"  when  he  was  touring  the  country  with  his  Wild  West 
Show,  suggesting  that  Fast  Walker  be  taken  East  to  com- 
pete with  some  of  the  noted  pedestrians  there.  Colonel 
Cody  replied  that  the  only  difficulty  would  be  that  none  of 
these  men  would  make  a  match  with  him,  knowing  that 
they  would  have  no  chance  of  victory. 

There  was  a  pretty  sequel  to  this  race  between  a  white 
man  and  a  red,  for  soon  after  it  Fast  Walker  came  into 
the  friendly  camp  where  he  remained,  and  afterward,  while 
Captain  Marsh  resided  in  Yankton,  Dakota,  as  he  did  for 
a  number  of  years,  the  Indian,  who  had  become  much 
attached  to  him,  used  often  to  come  down  with  his  two 
squaws,  and  camp  for  weeks  at  a  time  in  the  captain's 
dooryard. 

With  the  coming  of  spring  in  1869,  the  Nile  was  extri- 
cated from  her  uncomfortable  position  without  damage 
from  the  breaking  ice,  and  went  on  down  to  St.  Louis, 
reaching  there  in  time  to  participate  in  the  annual  exodus 
of  boats  for  Fort  Benton,  Captain  Marsh  retaining  com- 
mand of  her  for  the  season. 


114 


CHAPTER  XVI 

WOOD    HAWKS 

Their  limbs  are  long  and  lank  and  thin. 

Their  forms  are  swathed  from  foot  to  chin 

In  garments  rude  of  bison  skin. 

Their  coarse  ajid  ragged  hair 

Streams  bax'k  from  brows  whose  dusky  stain 

Is  dyed  by  blizzard,  wind  and  rain; 

They  are  a  fearsome  pair. 

AS  has  been  intimated  in  the  preceding  pages,  one 
of  the  chief  difficulties  of  navigation  on  the  upper 
river  was  the  scarcity  of  fuel.  The  average  boat 
burned  about  twenty-five  cords  of  hard  wood  or  thirty 
cords  of  Cottonwood  in  twenty-four  hours'  steaming,  and 
on  the  lower  river,  where  the  country  was  well  populated, 
wood  yards  lay  at  frequent  intervals  along  the  banks  ready 
to  supply  the  demands  of  commerce.  But  above  Fort 
Randall,  where  the  settlements  ceased,  the  case  was  differ- 
ent. Here  the  boats  had  to  depend  for  their  fuel  chiefly 
upon  the  chance  accumulations  of  driftwood,  called  "rack 
heaps,"  piled  up  by  the  current  on  the  sandbars  in  seasons 
of  high  water,  or  upon  "deadenings"  of  standing  timber 
which  had  been  killed  by  fires.  These  sources  of  supply 
were  frequently  hard  to  reach  from  the  river,  and  the  col- 
lection of  wood  from  them  also  often  exposed  the  crew  to 

115 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Indian  attacks.  Sometimes  neither  rack  heaps  nor  dead- 
enings  were  to  be  found,  and  then  it  became  necessary  to 
cut  up  green  cottonwood  trees,  which  were  very  unsatis- 
factory in  the  furnaces,  burning  with  hardly  enough  vigor 
to  keep  up  steam. 

In  such  a  locahty  the  sight  of  a  long  pile  of  dry  cord- 
wood  in  some  secluded  timber  bend  was  naturally  a  wel- 
come one  to  the  passing  steamboat  man^  and  here  and  there 
along  the  lonely  stretches  of  the  river  nomadic  wood- 
choppers  braved  the  peril  of  the  Indians  for  the  sake  of 
selling  their  wood  at  eight  dollars  per  cord,  which  was  its 
minimum  value  above  Fort  Randall.  That  their  vocation 
was  an  extremely  dangerous  one  is  proved  by  the  fact  that 
during  the  summer  of  1868  alone,  seven  wood-choppers 
were  killed  by  Indians  between  Fort  Benton  and  the  settle- 
ments.* Even  though  profitable,  it  was  not  a  business  to 
attract  the  timid,  and  the  few  men  who  engaged  in  it  were 
among  the  most  hardy  and  reckless  that  the  frontier  pro- 
duced. In  river  parlance  they  were  termed  "  wood  hawks  " 
a  name  which  has  been  perpetuated  ir.  the  great  Wood 
Hawk  B?ad,  about  forty-five  miles  be'ow  Fort  Rice. 

Captai  1  Marsh  was  acquainted  with  all  of  these  adven- 
turous fellows,  and  often  bought  from  them  considerable 
quantities  of  fuel.  Two  of  the  most  extraordinary  charac- 
ters whom  he  ever  encountered  among  them  were  a  pair  of 
partners  named  respectively  "X"  Beidler  and  "Liver- 
Eatin'"  Johnson,  of  whom  the  captain  relates  several 
amusing  anecdotes.  They  were  both  large  and  powerful 
*  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  1867-68. 

116 


Wood  Hawks 


men  physically,  ignorant  in  most  of  those  matters  which 
civilization  holds  as  knowled«!;e,  but  profoundly  versed  in 
all  the  strange  and  varied  wisdom  of  the  wilderness,  which, 
however,  they  kept  to  themselves  with  the  taciturnity 
characteristic  of  those  whose  ways  lie  in  Nature's  lonely 
places.  Beidler  had  won  an  awe-inspiring  record  for 
courage  during  Montana's  vigilante  days  when  serving 
as  a  deputy  under  United  States  Marshal  George  M. 
Pinney,*  while  Johnson  had  earned  his  sanguinary  title 
after  a  certain  Indian  raid  upon  the  trading  post  at  the 
mouth  of  Musselshell  River.  On  this  occasion  the  sav- 
ages were  driven  oflF,  losing  several  of  their  number  in  the 
encounter,  and  it  was  said  that  Johnson,  in  a  spirit  of 
devilish  bravado,  had  eaten  the  livers  of  the  dead  warriors. 
While  the  Nile  was  on  her  trip  to  Fort  Benton  in  the 
spring  of  1869,  Beidler  and  Johnson  were  encountered 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell.  Their  cord  wood  was 
purchased  and  they  were,  as  usual,  taken  on  board  and 
entertained  while  the  boat  continued  her  journey.  It  so 
happened  that  on  this  particular  day,  May  11th,  the  crew 
had  ice  cream  for  dinner  in  honor  of  Captain  Marsh's 
birthday,  the  ice,  which  was  a  rare  luxury  on  the  upper 
river,  having  been  obtained  at  Fort  Peck.f     Neither  of 

*  Contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana. 

t  The  ice  houses  established  at  Fort  Peck  by  the  shrewd  founders  of 
that  trading  post  had  played  an  important  part  in  its  prasperity.  The 
fort  was  built  in  186.5  by  a  party  of  men  who  had  undertaken  the  trip  to 
Fort  Benton  with  a  load  of  merchandise  on  the  steamer  Tacony,  but 
were  compelled  by  low  water  to  aljandon  their  enterprise  a  few  miles 
above  Milk  River.  Undismayed  by  this  misfortune,  they  landed  their 
goods  at  the  point  where  the  boat  stopped,  put  up  some  log  buildings, 
and  began  trading  with  the  Indians.     During  the  winter  they  packed 

117 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  "  wood  hawks "  had  ever  seen  or  heard  of  ice  cream 
before,  and  its  surprising  frigidity  in  the  heat  of  a  summer 
afternoon  caused  them  to  regard  it  with  suspicion,  though 
Beidler  was  averse  to  admitting  his  ignorance.  Johnson 
was  less  reticent,  and  straightway  asked  in  a  startled 
whisper  of  his  partner: 

"  X,  where  in does  this  stuff  come  from  ?  " 

"Shut  up,  you  fool,"  growled  Beidler,  bravely  swallow- 
ing a  spoonful  of  the  cream.     "It  comes  in  cans." 

Among  the  passengers  of  the  Nile  on  this  trip  was  a 
party  of  Eastern  tourists  containing  several  ladies  who 
were  spending  the  summer  viewing  some  of  the  strange 
sections  of  their  own  country.  The  ladies  had  been  inter- 
ested in  all  the  novel  scenes  of  the  frontier  which  the  voy- 
age had  presented  to  them,  but  when  the  two  rugged 
"wood  hawks"  appeared  on  board  they  became  particu- 
larly enthusiastic.  Their  curiosity  soon  led  them  into 
conversation  with  Beidler  and  Johnson,  neither  of  whom 
took  very  kindly  to  being  patronized  as  if  they  were  a  pair 
of  Sioux,  though  they  maintained  their  stoical  composure. 
At  length  one  of  the  ladies  inquired  of  "X": 

"Mr.  Beidler,  are  you  married?" 

"Yes,"  grunted  the  "wood  hawk." 

"Oh,  indeed?  Do  you  know,  I  hardly  thought  that. 
Is — is  your  wife,  ah — a  white  woman?" 

ice,  and  the  next  summer  dispensed  free  ice  water  to  all  the  Indians 
who  came  into  the  post.  The  beverage  met  with  great  favor  among 
the  aborigines,  and  from  every  direction  they  flocked  in  such  numbers 
to  Fort  Peck  to  do  their  bartering  that  the  enterprising  traders  there 
were  hardly  able  to  handle  the  busmess. — J.  M.  H. 

118 


Wood  Hawks 


"Indian." 

"How  delightful!  A  native  of  these  great  plains. 
Where  is  she  now?" 

"I've  sent  her  to  Rome." 

"To  Rome?  To  he  educated?  Just  think  of  such 
devotion!"  she  chirruped  to  her  companions.  "Mr. 
Beidler,  do  you  mean  to  Rome,  Italy?" 

"No,"  responded  "X"  grimly.  "To  roam  on  the 
prairie." 

At  this  point  the  conversation  abruptly  terminated. 

In  addition  to  the  sources  of  fuel  supply  already  men- 
tioned, another  developed  in  somewhat  later  years,  though 
it  was  of  small  moment  in  the  course  of  a  long  voyage. 
The  Agency  Indians,  as  they  gradually  began  to  absorb 
the  idea  of  doing  a  little  manual  labor,  found  out  that 
there  was  money  to  be  made  by  cutting  wood  for  the  boats, 
and  at  a  few  widely  separated  points  they  commenced 
doing  so  occasionally.  This  was  especially  the  case  at 
Crow  Creek,  where  the  ravines  above  the  Agency  were  full 
of  red  cedar  and  cottonwood  timber.  The  cedar  would 
burn  readily  even  when  full  of  sap,  and  the  steamboat  men 
promptly  took  all  of  it  that  the  Indians  could  pile  on  the 
river  bank.  But  when  they  saw  only  green  cottonwood 
corded  up,  they  would  pass  it  by.  The  dusky  woodsmen 
soon  learned  that  cedar  was  what  the  boats  wanted,  and 
when  they  had  only  cottonwood  to  offer  they  undertook 
a  simple  deception  to  aid  in  disposing  of  it.  Stacking  the 
timber  with  the  freshly-hewn  ends  toward  the  landing  they 
would  smear  these  ends  with  vermilion  face-paint  to  make 

119 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


it  resemble  cedar,  trusting  that  when  a  boat  had  actually 
stopped  at  the  bank,  she  would  take  it  away,  rather  than 
waste  more  time. 

Another  trick  devised  by  these  wily  savages  in  the  in- 
terest of  trade  owed  its  origin  to  the  changeable  nature  of 
the  Missouri's  channel,  which  would  sometimes  shift  across 
the  river  from  the  base  of  the  bluiBPs  where  their  wood- 
piles lay,  leaving  these  inaccessible  to  boats.  Not  com- 
prehending that  the  boatmen  could  have  any  means  of 
knowing  exactly  where  the  channel  lay,  the  Indians  when 
they  saw  a  steamer  approaching  would  wade  out  through 
the  shallow  water  in  front  of  their  wood-piles  and  there 
sit  down.  Leaving  only  their  heads  above  the  surface 
they  would  beckon  to  the  pilot  to  come  in,  thinking  that 
he  would  suppose  them  to  be  standing  to  their  necks  in 
water  deep  enough  to  carry  his  boat.  Captain  Marsh, 
soon  becoming  familiar  with  these  subterfuges  of  the  red 
men,  always  kept  his  wits  on  the  alert  when  approaching 
Crow  Creek. 


120 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  VEGETABLE  TRIP  OF  THE  NORTH    ALABAMA 

Boat  chuck  full,  passengers  an'  freight. 

Had  to  get  'em  somewfiere  'fore  the  freeze-up  brought  us  to. 
So  we  run,  crowdin'  on  the  gait. 

An'  hopin'  that  a  blind  snag  wouldn't  rip  our  bottom  through. 

THE  Nile  reached  Fort  Benton  without  incident  on 
her  spring  trip  of  1869  and  soon  left  there  to  return 
to  St.  Louis.  At  Fort  Stevenson,  whose  beginnings 
Captain  Marsh  had  witnessed  two  summers  before,  the 
boat  stopped  for  a  short  time,  and  while  lying  there  the 
captain  saw  an  incident  which  impressed  him  deeply  with 
the  hard  justice  sometimes  meted  out  for  seemingly  slight 
offenses  in  the  regular  army,  the  only  justice  known  at 
that  period  in  a  country  whose  sole  organized  communi- 
ties were  the  military  posts.  Fort  Stevenson,  which  at 
this  time  was  garrisoned  by  two  companies  of  the  22nd 
Infantry  under  Major  Charles  Dickey,  stood  on  a  bend 
of  the  river  and  nearly  opposite  a  wide  bottom  meadow. 
When  the  Nile  arrived,  there  was  a  party  of  soldiers 
camped  on  this  meadow,  cutting  and  stacking  the  season's 
supply  of  hay,  which,  when  winter  came,  could  be  hauled 
over  to  the  fort  on  the  ice  as  it  was  needed.  The  haying 
party  consisted  of  six  men  under  a  corporal,  Wilson  by 

121 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


name,  who  had  with  them  six  mules,  a  mowing  machine, 
hay  rake  and  wagon. 

Shortly  before  noon  on  this  particular  day,  while  the  hay- 
makers were  busy  with  their  peaceful  occupation,  a  solitary 
mounted  Indian  rode  out  on  a  knoll  at  the  edge  of  the 
meadow  and  stopping,  watched  them.  Then  he  beckoned 
as  if  summoning  a  party  of  companions  behind  him.  Cor- 
poral Wilson,  mindful  of  the  attacks  often  made  on  small 
parties  of  soldiers,  hastily  abandoned  the  mules  and  imple- 
ments and  ordered  his  men  under  the  river  bank.  From 
across  the  river  the  entire  garrison  witnessed  the  move- 
ment, but  could  do  nothing,  as  steam  was  not  up  on  the 
Nile.  The  Corporal's  maneuver  was  an  unfortunate  one, 
for  had  there  been  any  number  of  Indians  they  could  have 
ridden  over  and  shot  the  soldiers  as  the  latter  clung  help- 
lessly under  the  bank.  The  warrior,  however,  proved  to 
be  alone,  but  seeing  the  soldiers  disappear  he  galloped  out 
to  the  deserted  mules,  cut  them  loose  from  the  machines, 
and  drove  them  off. 

As  soon  as  the  haying  party  could  be  brought  across  to 
the  fort.  Corporal  Wilson  was  placed  under  arrest  and 
shortly  after  was  tried  by  court-martial  on  the  charge  of 
cowardice.  He  was  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  ten 
years'  imprisonment  in  the  military  penitentiary  at  De- 
troit, Michigan,  and  the  court  further  ordered  that  while 
on  his  journey  from  Fort  Stevenson  to  Detroit  he  should 
be  compelled  to  wear  a  large  placard  on  his  back  inscribed 
with  the  word  "Coward."  When  the  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced upon  him,  Corporal  Wilson  was  so  overcome  that 

122 


\9 

The  Vegetable  Trip  of  the  ''North  Alabama'' 

he  piteously  begged  his  judges  to  impose  the  death  penalty 
rather  than  subject  him  to  such  degradation,  l)ut  there  was 
no  appeal  from  their  decision.  Captain  Marsh,  who  had 
witnessed  the  entire  affair  on  the  hay  field,  felt  that  the 
Corporal's  action  had  been  merely  an  error  of  judgment 
not  inspired  by  cowardice,  and  the  punishment  accorded 
seemed  to  him  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  offense. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  Nile  at  St.  Louis,  the  captain 
disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  boat  and  prepared  to  engage 
in  the  lower  river  trade.  But  before  he  could  do  so,  his 
plans  were  changed  by  a  call  which  took  him  in  another 
direction.  That  spring  a  steamer  named  the  Tempest, 
owned  by  Messrs.  Sims,  Silvers  &  Shields,  of  St.  Louis, 
and  commanded  by  Captain  James  L.  Bissell,  had  started 
for  Fort  Benton  with  the  "mountain  fleet."  When  she 
reached  Cow  Island,  a  place  130  miles  below  Benton, 
which  by  reason  of  its  shallow  channel  bore  an  evil  fame 
among  pilots,  the  Tempest  found  herself  not  only  unable 
to  proceed  further  but  equally  unable  to  go  back.  Having 
tried  in  vain  to  extricate  his  boat.  Captain  Bissell  at  last 
sent  a  messenger  to  Helena,  whence  was  telegraphed  an 
appeal  for  help  to  the  owners  in  St.  Louis.  Believing  that 
Captain  Marsh  could  save  the  Tempest  if  any  one  could, 
they  engaged  him  to  undertake  the  task,  at  S^'OO  per  month. 
He  at  once  set  out  for  Salt  Lake  City  over  the  newly  com- 
pleted Union  Pacific  Railroad,  and  there  took  a  stage  for 
Helena  and  Fort  Benton.  At  the  latter  place  he  secured 
a  Mackinaw  boat  and  went  down  with  the  current  to  Cow 
Island. 

123 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Having  arrived  at  last  on  board  the  Tempest,  he  found 
her  in  a  deplorable  condition.  She  was  still  confined  in 
her  watery  prison,  but  that  fact  was  not  the  worst  in  the 
situation.  The  captain  found  that  the  presence  of  a 
superabundance  of  whiskey  on  board  had  really  been  the 
cause  of  all  the  boat's  mishaps.  Her  troubles  had  begun, 
even  before  Cow  Island  was  reached,  with  a  fight  at  the 
dinner  table  in  which  Engineer  Evans  killed  a  passenger. 
All  the  persons  involved  were  drunk  at  the  time,  and  the 
tragedy  split  the  boat's  company  into  such  bitter  factions 
that  the  steamer  could  not  even  be  properly  navigated. 

When  Captain  Marsh  arrived  he  found  the  bar  running 
full  blast,  though  the  barkeeper  was  making  dire  threats 
against  the  besotted  crew,  who  owed  him  $600.  The 
captain  instantly  closed  the  bar,  refused  to  let  any  one 
have  another  drop  of  liquor,  and  sternly  advised  the  bar- 
keeper that  if  he  ever  hoped  to  get  his  money,  he  would  do 
well  to  see  that  the  order  was  observed  and  himself  turn 
to  and  help  save  the  boat.  To  his  credit  be  it  said,  the  bar- 
keeper accepted  his  reprimand  with  good  grace,  and  there- 
after the  captain  had  no  more  efficient  assistant  than  he. 
The  shutting  off  of  their  whiskey  supply  produced  the 
desired  effect  upon  the  crew.  Once  more  they  became 
responsible  men,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  captain 
succeeded  in  working  the  Tempest  out  of  the  shoals  and 
heading  her  safely  down  toward  St.  Louis. 

On  her  way  the  Tempest  touched  at  Sioux  City,  which 
had  just  become  the  terminus  of  a  railroad  line  from  the 
East.     Here  Captain   Marsh  was  met  by  Captain   Job 

124 


The  Vegetable  Trip  of  the  ''North  Alabama'' 

Lawrence,  manager  of  the  Northwestern  Transportation 
Company,  who  informed  Rim  that  he  might  soon  be  needed 
to  take  a  boat  load  of  winter  su{)phes  to  the  upper  river 
forts.  The  trip  was  not  entirely  arranged  for  yet,  but 
when  the  Tempest  reached  St.  Louis,  Captain  Lawrence 
was  there  waiting  for  her,  having  come  down  by  rail.  He 
at  once  engaged  Captain  Marsh  to  make  the  trip  previously 
mentioned,  and  they  set  out  for  Sioux  City  without  delay, 
for  it  was  already  very  late  in  the  season. 

The  captain  found  the  boat  which  was  to  make  the  run 
loaded  and  waiting  for  him  at  Sioux  City.  She  was  the 
North  Alabama,  a  well-built  craft  of  good  speed  which  had 
twice  made  the  Fort  Benton  trip  successfully.  The  morn- 
ing of  the  1st  of  October  saw  the  North  AlahoTna  back 
away  from  the  Sioux  City  levee  and  start  on  her  voyage, 
the  successful  termination  of  which  was  very  doubtful. 
To  add  to  the  captain's  anxiety,  her  cargo  was  a  perisha- 
ble one,  consisting  chiefly  of  staple  vegetables  for  the  w  in- 
ter supply  of  the  military  garrisons,  and  a  sudden  cold 
snap,  so  liable  to  come  at  that  season,  might  ruin  it  all. 
But,  fortunately,  for  a  number  of  days  the  weather  con- 
tinued warm. 

The  boat  had  on  board  a  few  passengers,  among  them 
Major  Bannister,  the  Department  PajTnaster,  and  his  clerk, 
Mr.  Baker,  who  were  taking  up  money  to  pay  off  all  the 
troops  at  the  posts  to  be  visited.  Two  other  interesting 
persons  who  occupied  cabins  were  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Galpin 
and  her  daughter.  Miss  Lou  Galpin,  the  former  being  the 
full-blood  Sioux  wife  of  Major  Galpin,  the  famous  fur-trader 

125 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


who  had  been  factor  at  Fort  Pierre  when  it  was  bought  for 
the  Government  by  General  Harney.  Mrs.  Galpin  was 
a  woman  of  unusual  mental  capacity,  who  was  well 
known  throughout  the  Dakota  country,*  and  her  daughter 
had  been  well  educated  at  St.  Louis.  They  were  just  re- 
turning to  Grand  River  Agency  from  Chicago,  where  they 
had  been  procuring  a  wedding  trousseau  for  Miss  Galpin, 
who  was  soon  to  be  married  to  Captain  Harmon,  of  the 
17th  Infantry, 

The  weather  holding  fine.  Forts  Randall,  Hale,  Sully, 
Rice  and  Stevenson  were  successively  reached,  the  car- 
goes consigned  to  them  discharged,  and  their  troops  paid 
off  by  Major  Bannister;  and  Captain  Marsh  began  to 
entertain  hopes  that  he  would  make  the  whole  trip  with- 
out mishap,  as  only  one  more  post  remained  to  be  visited, 
Fort  Buford.  But  on  October  17th,  when  the  boat  left 
Fort  Stevenson,  the  air  began  to  grow  chill.  Through  the 
following  night  and  day  the  temperature  fell  steadily  and 
slush  ice  began  forming  in  rapidly  increasing  quantities. 
The  potatoes,  turnips,  onions,  cabbage  and  apples  des- 
tined for  Fort  Buford  lay  on  the  main  deck  where  they 
were  in  imminent  danger  of  freezing.  Captain  Marsh 
therefore  had  them  all  transferred  to  the  hold  and  small 
fires  kindled  there  to  keep  the  air  warm.  It  was  a  dan- 
gerous experiment  to  try  on  a  frail  wooden  steamboat,  but 
guards  were  stationed  in  the  hold  to  watch  the  fires,  and 
no  disaster  resulted.     Against  the  increasing  drift  ice  the 

*  See  Charles  Larpenteur's  "  Forty  Years  a  Fur  Trader  on  the  Upper 
Missouri,"  edited  by  Dr.  Eliot  Coues;  and  "South  Dakota  Historical 
Collections,"  Vol.  I. 

126 


^ 


O 


The  Vegetable  Trip  of  the  ''North  Alabama'' 

North  Alabama  struggled  ahead,  her  progress  becoming 
slower  and  slower,  until  she  rounded  the  point  at  the  foot 
of  Plum  Pudding  Butte  and  came  into  the  wide  valley 
where  Big  Muddy  Bend  sweeps  between  its  timbered 
banks.  Here  on  the  morning  of  October  22d,  at  the 
mouth  of  Little  Muddy  Creek,  about  one  mile  below  the 
site  of  the  present  town  of  Williston,  the  ice  closed  solid, 
leaving  her  frozen  against  the  bank. 

It  seemed  as  if,  in  spite  of  all  efforts,  the  garrison  of 
Fort  Buford  was  to  be  cheated  of  its  vegetables  and  left  to 
subsist  on  rations  of  salt  meat,  hardtack  and  canned  goods. 
The  disgusting  monotony  of  such  a  diet  through  eight  long 
winter  and  spring  months  can  easily  be  appreciated,  and 
Captain  Marsh,  realizing  it  fully,  did  not  propose  that  the 
soldiers  should  be  subjected  to  such  privation  if  he  could 
help  it.  On  the  boat  were  two  Arikaree  Indian  scouts, 
who  had  come  aboard  at  Fort  Berthold,  where  their  tribe 
was  located.  The  captain  dispatched  them  overland 
with  a  message  for  the  commanding  officer,  advising  him 
of  the  steamer's  predicament  and  asking  him  to  come  down 
and  save  the  vegetables.  The  appeal  met  with  a  prompt 
response.  Though  the  fort  was  twenty-five  miles  distant 
in  a  direct  line,  the  next  day  the  men  on  the  boat  saw  a 
train  of  covered  wagons,  escorted  by  a  mounted  detach- 
ment, come  into  view  on  the  crest  of  the  barren  bluffs  to 
northward  and  wind  its  way  down  across  the  valley  toward 
them.  WTien  they  arrived  the  soldiers  were  overjoyed  to 
find  their  winter  supplies  still  safe,  and  they  set  to  work 
eagerly  transferring  them  to  the  wagons,  each  one  of 

127 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


which  was  equipped  with  a  small  camp  stove.  With  their 
precious  cargo  they  set  out  immediately  for  the  fort,  and 
reached  there  without  losing  anything,  Major  Bannister 
accompanying  them  to  pay  off  the  garrison. 

Captain  Marsh  fully  believed  that  winter  had  come  to 
stay,  and  he  began  preparing  his  boat  for  a  sojourn  such 
as  had  been  experienced  by  the  Nile.  But  in  a  short  time 
the  temperature  began  to  moderate,  and  on  the  tenth  day 
after  the  freeze-up,  to  everyone's  surprise  and  delight,  the 
ice  broke  and  began  running  out.  The  captain  thereupon 
sent  one  of  the  Indian  scouts  posthaste  to  the  fort  with  word 
to  Major  Bannister  that  the  boat  was  going  to  leave,  and 
that  oflScer,  only  too  glad  to  escape  a  winter  in  the  com- 
fortless quarters  of  Buford,  hurried  back  to  the  steamer. 
As  soon  as  he  arrived,  the  North  Alabama  cast  off  and 
started  down  with  all  speed,  lest  the  ice  again  catch  her. 
But  no  such  misfortune  befell,  and  she  reached  Sioux  City 
on  November  15th. 

For  the  success  of  this  trip  Captain  Marsh  declares  he 
received  more  commendation  from  the  military  authorities 
than  for  any  other  work  he  ever  performed,  before  or  since, 
and  the  officers  and  soldiers  at  Fort  Buford  ever  after  held 
for  him  a  warm  friendship.  It  was  an  apt  confirmation 
of  the  old  adage  that  the  royal  road  to  a  man's  heart  is 
through  his  stomach. 


128 


CHAPTER  XVIIT 

THE    HARE   AND   THE   TORTOISE 

She  was  warped  in  the  hull  an'  broad  o'  beam. 
An'  her  engines  sizzled  with  wastin'  steam. 
An"  a  three-mile  jog  against  the  stream 
Was  her  average  runnin'  gait. 

DURING  the  three  years  following  the  trip  of  the 
North  Alabama  the  captain's  life  was  unevent- 
ful, so  far  as  adventure  was  concerned.  The 
early  summer  of  1870  he  spent  on  the  steamer  Kate 
Kearney,  engaged  in  commerce  between  St.  Louis  and 
lower-river  points.  But  the  trade  between  St.  Louis  and 
the  Northwest,  which  had  so  long  flourished,  was  now 
waning,  owing  to  the  arrival  of  the  railroad  at  Sioux  City. 
That  point  was  beginning  to  reap  the  reward  of  enterprise 
and  becoming  the  distributing  center  for  Dakota  and 
Eastern  Montana,  while  the  merchants  of  Chicago,  who 
shipped  to  Sioux  City,  were  wresting  from  their  rivals  in 
St.  Louis  a  market  which  was  rapidly  increasing  in  value 
and  which  in  later  years  the  metropolis  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  was  to  miss  sorely.  Later  in  the  season  of  1870, 
the  captain  assumed  command  of  the  Ida  Reese  No.  2, 
owned  by  Durfee  &  Peck,  Indian  traders,  and  began 
transporting  goods  for  them  between  Sioux  City  and  the 
agencies  as  far  up  as  Fort  Buford. 

129 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


The  following  winter,  in  partnership  with  Durfee  & 
Peck,  he  built  the  steamer  Nellie  Peck,  at  Brownsville, 
Pa.,  going  there  himself  to  superintend  her  construction. 
She  was  an  excellent  boat,  costing  $28,000  to  build,  and 
especially  designed  for  the  upper-river  trade.  The  cap- 
tain took  her  up  from  Brownsville  in  the  spring  and  con- 
tinued to  command  her  during  the  seasons  of  1871  and 
1872.  She  did  a  good  business  through  the  summer  of 
1871,  though  nothing  of  interest  happened  to  her.  Late 
in  the  year,  however,  an  incident  occurred  which  Captain 
Marsh's  professional  friends  still  chuckle  over,  and  it  is 
worth  relating  because  it  well  illustrates  the  dry  sort  of 
humor  beloved  by  those  old-time  steamboat  men. 

The  season's  work  was  over,  and  like  the  southward 
hurrying  ducks  and  geese  which  were  paralleling  her 
course  in  the  upper  air,  the  Nellie  Peck  had  turned  her 
head  downstream,  bound  for  winter  harbor  at  Sioux  City. 
Late  one  November  afternoon  she  had  just  cleared  the 
foot  of  the  Big  Bend,  above  Crow  Creek,  when  she  en- 
countered a  Durfee  &  Peck  boat  called  the  Silver  Lake, 
Captain  Andy  Johnson,  coming  up.  Captain  Johnson 
hailed  and  stated  that  the  Silver  Lake  was  loaded  with  a 
cargo  for  Messrs.  Leighton  &  Jordan,  post  traders,  at 
Fort  Buford,  whose  freight  was  carried  by  the  Durfee  & 
Peck  steamers.  Captain  Johnson  had  been  instructed  by 
Leighton  &  Jordan  to  exchange  boats  with  Captain  Marsh 
when  they  should  meet,  he  taking  the  Nellie  Peck  down  to 
Sioux  City  while  Captain  Marsh  should  bring  the  Silver 
Lake  on  to  Buford.     Captain  Marsh  did  not  greatly  relish 

130 


The  Hare  and  the  Tortoise 


this  development,  for  he  was  anxious  to  get  back  to  his 
family.  But  he  knew  that  the  post  traders  were  relying 
upon  him  to  save  their  boat  and  cargo  from  the  freeze-up. 
He  would  not  violate  their  confidence,  so  reluctantly  ex- 
changed steamers  and  started  back. 

The  transfer  was  made  not  long  before  dusk  and  the 
Silver  Lake  had  not  proceeded  far  when  night  came  on 
and  the  captain  tied  her  up  to  the  bank  just  below  the  foot 
of  the  Big  Bend  to  wait  for  daylight.  He  had  scarcely 
done  so  when  to  his  surprise,  the  Far  West,  a  speedy 
packet  belonging  to  parties  in  Yankton,  hove  in  sight  up- 
ward bound,  and  made  fast  to  the  bank  near  him.  The 
commander  of  the  Far  West  at  this  time  was  one  who  is 
well  known  to  all  old  steamboat  men  by  the  nickname  of 
"Rodney."  He  was  an  excellent  captain  and  pilot,  hav- 
ing only  one  failing,  self-sufficiency.  Above  all  things  he 
disliked  to  admit  that  any  one  could  be  better  informed 
than  himself  in  a  given  situation,  and  his  aversion  to  asking 
advice  sometimes  led  him  into  difficulties.  It  was  now 
late  in  the  year  and  the  river  very  low,  rendering  it  unusu- 
ally liable  to  sudden  changes  of  channel.  Rodney  had 
not  been  over  it  for  a  month  and  he  knew  that  Marsh  had, 
for  he  had  passed  the  Nellie  Peck  going  down  and  learned, 
of  course,  that  Marsh  had  just  transferred  from  her  to  the 
Silver  Lake.  But  his  peculiar  pride  forbade  him  to  call 
upon  Captain  Marsh  during  the  evening,  as  other  pilots 
would  have  done,  to  learn  the  latest  news  of  the  channel 
above,  and  he  was  further  deterred  by  the  presence  on 
board  his  boat  of  several  army  officers  going  up  to  the 

131 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


forts,  whom  he  was  anxious  to  impress  with  his  skill  and 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  river.  Appreciating  the  situa- 
tion, Captain  Marsh  did  not  disturb  him,  and  the  next 
morning  shortly  after  daybreak,  the  Far  West  shoved  off 
and  started  for  the  bend  above. 

When  Rodney  had  last  come  down,  the  channel  lay  as 
it  usually  does  in  such  places,  "shaping  out  the  bend," 
that  is,  following  the  outer  shore.  But  it  so  happened 
that  as  the  river  had  fallen  at  this  point,  the  channel  had 
shifted,  and  when  he  was  bringing  the  Nellie  Peck  down 
the  day  before.  Captain  Marsh  had  found  it  in  under  the 
point,  the  width  of  the  river  from  its  normal  position.  Not 
knowing  this,  Rodney  now  followed  the  channel  as  he 
knew  it.  As  the  Far  West  steamed  up,  the  crew  of  the 
Silver  Lake  could  see,  through  the  light  river  mist,  the 
army  officers  in  their  long  cape  overcoats  gathered  in  a 
group  on  the  forward  end  of  the  boiler  deck,  admiringly 
watching  the  movements  of  their  pilot.  Rodney  had  or- 
dered out  leadsmen  with  sounding  poles  to  the  bow,  and 
while  the  Far  West  went  rapidly  up  along  the  left  bank, 
those  on  the  Silver  Lake  heard  the  voice  of  the  word- 
passer  vibrating  in  the  deathly  stillness  of  dawn: 

"No-o  bottom!    No-o  bottom/" 

When  he  heard  that  cry,  Captain  Marsh  laughed. 
Knowing  that  even  at  the  foot  of  the  bend  there  could  not 
be  more  than  thirty  or  forty  inches  of  water,  he  realized 
at  once  that  Rodney  must  have  privately  instructed  his 
leadsmen  for  the  occasion.  The  captain  of  the  Far 
West  himself  must  have  known  that  the  water  would  cer- 

132 


The  Hare  and  the  Tortoise 


tainly  be  perilously  low  there  in  such  a  stage  of  the  river, 
but  he  evidently  expected  to  squeeze  through  and  wished 
to  add  to  his  prestige  by  affecting  to  know  so  excellent  a 
channel  in  so  unpromising  a  locality.  But  his  triumph 
was  short-lived.  He  had  not  half  rounded  the  bend  when 
his  vessel  shivered  and  stopped  short.  Even  while  her 
leadsmen  were  still  crying  their  deceptive  refrain  she  had 
come  head  on  against  a  bar  and  lay  immovable. 

While  this  was  going  on,  Captain  Marsh  had  cast  off 
lines  and  started  up  also.  The  Silver  Lake  was  emphati- 
cally not  one  of  the  river  greyhounds.  In  fact,  she  might 
more  accurately  have  been  classed  with  those  boats  of 
which  it  was  said  that  they  "could  run  in  the  shade  of  a 
big  tree  all  day  and  tie  up  to  the  foot  of  it  at  night."  In  a 
contest  of  speed  with  the  Far  West,  which  was  one  of  the 
fastest  boats  on  the  river,  she  would  be,  to  use  another 
river  definition,  "like  a  cow  racing  with  an  antelope;  the 
first  jump  would  be  the  closest."  But  the  Silver  Lake,  at 
any  rate,  had  a  pilot  in  her  wheel-house  who  knew  where 
he  was  going.  She  steamed  up  slowly  and  when  she 
reached  the  point,  turned  in  under  the  bluff  where  the 
channel  lay.  Here  the  captain  ordered  out  leadsmen 
and,  imitating  Rodney,  said  to  them: 

"  Boys,  you'll  only  find  about  thirty  inches,  but  whatever 
you  find,  holler,  'No  bottom!'" 

Then  he  stationed  his  "cub  pilot,"  Joe  Todd,  on  the 
forward  guards  to  pass  the  word,  and  went  ahead.  Todd 
had  a  voice  like  an  angry  bull,  and  as  they  steamed  along 
the  base  of  the  bluffs  in  full  view  of  the  helpless  Far  West, 

133 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


his  bellow  could  be  heard  for  two  miles  through  the  pulse- 
less air: 

"No-o-o  bottoml    No-o-o  hottom!" 

Rodney,  in  the  other  pilot-house,  watched  them  for  a 
time  in  silence,  as  if  expecting  to  see  them  ground  at  any 
moment.  But  as  they  went  on  and  on  he  began  to  pace 
back  and  forth  nervously.  At  last  he  saw  that  they  were 
really  going  to  get  through,  and  as  he  caught  the  derisive 
glances  of  the  army  oflBcers  on  his  own  deck,  he  could  con- 
tain himself  no  longer.  Tearing  his  hat  from  his  head  he 
dashed  it  to  the  floor,  then  ran  to  the  window  and,  shaking 
his  fist  at  the  Silver  Lake,  shouted  furiously: 

"You're  a  liar,  you  son  of  a  gun!    There  is  bottom!" 

Amid  boisterous  laughter  from  the  crews  of  both  boats, 
the  Silver  Lake  cleared  the  passage  and  went  on  her  way, 
leaving  the  Far  West  to  spend  most  of  the  day  in  sparring 
oflF. 

Captain  Marsh  completed  his  trip  to  Fort  Buford  suc- 
cessfully, receiving  as  an  extra  token  of  gratitude  for  the 
safe  delivery  of  the  goods,  an  order  from  Mr.  Leighton  for 
a  one  hundred  dollar  suit  of  clothes,  which  seems  to  indi- 
cate that  the  business  of  post  sutler  was  not  without  profit 
in  those  days.  On  the  down  trip  the  Silver  Lake  was  fired 
into  by  Indians  near  the  mouth  of  Heart  River,  forty  miles 
above  Fort  Rice,  and  Pilot  Joe  Todd  was  painfully 
wounded,  carrying  the  bullet  the  rest  of  his  life.  When 
the  boat  had  almost  reached  Fort  Thompson,  the  freeze- 
up  caught  her,  but  she  was  piloted  into  a  position  in  which 
she  would  be  safe  from  injury  by  ice  when  the  spring 

134 


The  Hare  and  the   Tortoise 


break-up  came,  and  there  Captain  Marsh  left  her,  going 
down  by  wagon  to  Yankton.  The  Far  West,  which  had 
also  made  a  long  run,  escaped  from  the  ice,  but  Rodney 
never  heard  the  last  of  his  discomfiture  in  the  Big  Bend 
of  the  Missouri. 


135 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A  THREE   THOUSAND   MILE   RACE 

Then  give  iliem  a  cheer  and  swing  them  clear 
And  let  the  chase  begin. 
By  bluff  and  beach,  through  bend  and  reach. 
And  may  the  best  boat  win! 

A  FTER  the  close  of  navigation  in  1871,  several  of 
/-%  the  interests  on  the  upper  river  combined  in  form- 
ing a  large  company,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
secure  complete  control  of  the  steamboat  business  there. 
The  new  concern  was  known  as  the  Coulson  Packet  Com- 
pany, famous  in  Missouri  River  history,  and  the  gentle- 
men composing  it  were  Commodore  Sanford  B.  Coulson 
and  his  brothers.  Captains  Martin  and  John  Coulson, 
Captain  James  C.  McVay,  Captain  John  Todd,  Captain 
Grant  P.  Marsh,  and  Messrs.  Durfee  &  Peck.  The  boats 
originally  owned  by  this  powerful  syndicate  were  the  Nel- 
lie Peck,  Far  West,  Western,  Key  West,  E.  H.  Durfee, 
Sioux  City  and  Mary  McDonald. 

With  the  coming  of  spring,  1872,  there  opened  the  most 
prosperous  season  in  the  history  of  the  upper  river.  This 
was  largely  the  result  of  the  completion  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  from  Fargo  to  Bismarck,  in  northern 
Dakota  Territory.  As  usual,  a  flood  of  settlers  followed 
the  railroad,  spreading  out  along  the  eastern  side  of  the 

136 


A   Three  Thousand  Mile  Race 


river,  and  the  needs  of  all  these  people  greatly  increased  the 
demands  for  steamboat  transportation.  Bismarck  itself, 
which  was  at  first  called  Edwinton,  was  established  in 
May.  It  was  built  on  the  river  bank,  but  the  following 
year  was  moved  to  the  top  of  the  bluff  and  its  name  changed 
to  the  one  it  still  bears.  When  Captain  Marsh  visited  it  a 
few  weeks  after  its  first  shack  had  been  erected,  it  was  as 
rough  and  generally  disreputable  a  community  as  the 
Northwest  ever  boasted,  and  as  such  it  continued  to  main- 
tain its  reputation  for  several  years.  As  witnessing  the 
character  of  the  place,  an  anecdote  is  related  by  a  gentle- 
man who  saw  it  during  its  days  of  youthful  exuberance. 
This  gentleman  visited  a  friend  who  was  editor  of  a  strug- 
gling but  ambitious  newspaper,  and  who  possessed,  be- 
sides his  hand-press  and  case  of  type,  a  hopeful  son  some 
eight  years  of  age.  The  small  boy  was  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  class  of  local  news  which  generally  filled 
the  columns  of  his  father's  paper.  One  day,  while  giving 
the  visitor  one  of  those  searching  cross-examinations  to 
which  small  boys  are  addicted,  he  asked: 

"You  got  a  papa?" 

"No,"  replied  the  gentleman,  somewhat  sadly. 

"Why  not?" 

"Because  he  is  dead." 

"  Oh ! "  said  the  questioner.     He  meditated  this  decisive 
fact  for  a  moment,  then  inquired: 

"He  got  shot,  did  he?" 

"No,  he  didn't  get  shot." 

"Then  he  drank  too  much  whiskey?" 
137 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


"No,  indeed!" 

"Well,  then,  he  can't  be  dead,"  exclaimed  the  boy  tri- 
umphantly, "  'cause  them's  the  only  ways  men  get  dead 
in  Bismarck!" 

But  for  all  its  lack  of  refinement,  Bismarck  was  a  lively 
trade  center  for  the  steamboats,  though  it  did  not  at  once 
become  the  foot  of  navigation,  the  bulk  of  the  trade  con- 
tinuing for  some  years  to  be  through  to  Fort  Benton  from 
Sioux  City,  and,  a  little  later,  from  Yankton. 

Though  it  was  a  matter  of  indifference  to  the  owners  of 
the  Packet  Company  which  one  of  their  boats  might  be 
capable  of  developing  the  greatest  speed,  a  considerable 
feeling  of  rivalry  existed  between  the  masters  of  the  steam- 
ers themselves.  It  was  customary  for  the  boats  to  receive 
their  cargoes  for  a  trip  in  the  order  of  their  arrival,  the  first 
one  in  at  the  Sioux  City  or  Fort  Benton  levee  thus  being 
the  first  one  out  on  the  return  trip,  and  it  was  natural  that 
when  opportunity  offered,  each  captain  should  strive  to 
secure  this  preference  for  his  boat.  Moreover,  the  people 
living  along  the  river,  all  more  or  less  isolated  and  eager 
for  any  sort  of  diversion,  took  lively  interest  in  the  per- 
formances of  the  steamers  and  often  laid  wagers  on  their 
favorites  and  urged  the  masters  and  crews  by  all  means  of 
encouragement  to  break  the  records  of  the  others.  So 
ardent  did  they  become  in  their  partisanship  that  some- 
times even  bribery  was  resorted  to  if  it  would  produce  the 
desired  results.  With  so  many  incentives  to  actuate  them 
it  was  not  surprising  that  the  steamboat  men  soon  began 
to  indulge  in  racing,  even  though  the  practice  was  a  dan- 

138 


A    Three  Thousand  Mile  Race 

gerous  one  on  those  waters,  particularly  when  the  river 
was  low. 

It  did  not  take  long  for  the  boats  to  prove  themselves. 
The  Nellie  Peck  and  the  Far  West  developed  great  supe- 
riority over  the  others  in  point  of  speed,  and  the  question 
which  of  them  was  entitled  to  be  regarded  as  the  sovereign 
of  the  river  came  to  be  an  absorbing  one.  Both  boats 
made  early  trips  to  Fort  Benton  in  the  spring,  the  Nellie 
Peck  arriving  there  on  May  18th,  the  first  boat  in,  and  the 
Far  West  on  May  24th,  the  second  arrival.*  They  hap- 
pened to  return  to  Sioux  City  in  such  time  that  one  could 
load  immediately  after  the  other.  Captain  Marsh  was 
loading  his  vessel  when  the  Far  West  appeared,  her  gallant 
captain,  Mart  Coulson,  taking  in  the  possibilities  of  the 
situation  at  a  glance.  The  Nellie  Peck  had  no  sooner  cast 
off  her  lines  than  the  Far  West  took  her  place  at  the  levee, 
rushed  her  cargo  on  board,  and  swung  out  after  her  rival, 
which  had  got  the  start. 

The  season  was  the  middle  of  June  and  the  Big  Muddy 
was  booming  bank-full  through  the  bottom  lands.  It  was 
an  ideal  stage  for  steamboating  and  everything  was  propi- 
tious for  a  race  to  a  finish.  The  Nellie  Peck  had  the  larger 
cargo,  and  both  boats  transacted  much  business  at  the 
various  way  landings,  but  Captain  Marsh  kept  his  lead 
for  1,370  miles.  Then,  at  Dauphin's  Rapids,  only  103 
miles  below  Fort  Benton,  the  Far  West  overhauled  and 
triumphantly  passed  him,  beating  him  to  the  Benton  levee 
by  several  hours  on  June  30th.  The  local  admirers  of  the 
*  Contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana,  Vol.  I. 

139 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Nellie  Peck  were  much  cast  down  by  this  result,  while  the 
delight  of  the  opposite  party  was  increased  by  the  fact 
that  the  Far  West  had  broken  all  previous  records  for  the 
run  between  Sioux  City  and  Benton,  making  it  in  17  days 
and  20  hours.* 

But  Captain  Marsh  was  not  discouraged,  even  though 
his  friend  Mart  Coulson  was  now  gaining  the  advantage 
of  the  first  cargo  and  the  start,  which  he  had  enjoyed  at 
Sioux  City.  He  loaded  his  boat  as  quickly  as  possible 
and  started  after  his  rival,  already  some  hours  ahead,  de- 
termined to  overtake  her  even  if  he  collapsed  a  flue  in 
doing  it.  There  was  little  business  to  detain  either  of  the 
steamers  on  the  downward  run,  and  officers  and  crews 
gave  themselves  up  to  the  excitement  of  the  race.  Mart 
Coulson  well  knew  that  the  Nellie  Peck  was  pursuing  him, 
and  his  men  were  using  every  effort  to  keep  their  lead. 
Neither  boat  stopped  for  storm  or  for  night,  and  neither 
went  to  the  bank  save  when  compelled  by  the  necessity  of 
replenishing  the  wood  piles.  The  Far  West  was  in  charge 
of  two  skillful  and  fearless  pilots,  Dan  Comfort  and  W.  H. 
Sims,  while  on  the  Nellie  Peck  Captain  Marsh  himself  was 
standing  a  watch  at  the  wheel,  his  partner  being  John 
LaBarge.f  They  were  none  of  them  men  to  hesitate  for 
obstacles  when  a  race  was  on. 

A  few  miles  west  of  Fort  Berthold  the  people  on  the 
Peck  caught  sight  of  a  feather  of  smoke  floating  off  across 

*  Contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana,  Vol.  I. 
t  Brother  of  Joseph  LaBarge,  the  famous  steamboat  captain  of  the 
fur-trading  days,  whose  biography  has  been  written  and  published  by 


Col.  H.  M.  Chittenden,  U.  S 

140 


A   Three  Thousand  Mile  Race 


the  naked  hills,  for  which  they  had  long  been  anxiously 
straining  their  eyes,  and  enthusiasm  rose  high.  It  was 
the  trail  of  the  Far  West.  Nearer  and  larger  it  grew  until, 
in  front  of  the  log-built  stockade  and  clustered  buildings 
of  the  little  post,  the  Nellie  Peck  swept  past  her  laboring 
adversary,  while  from  the  crowded  shore  the  soldiers 
cheered  wildly  and  a  throng  of  Indians  gazed  in  wonder 
at  the  racers.  With  a  clear  river  ahead.  Captain  Marsh 
did  not  relax  his  efforts.  He  disliked  to  trust  the  boat  to 
another  hand  than  his  own,  but  at  times  he  was  forced  to 
seek  a  little  rest.  At  length  one  night  a  short  distance 
above  the  point  where  the  Bijou  Hills  lie  piled  along  the 
left  bank,  knowing  that  there  was  an  easy  stretch  of  water 
ahead  and  that  everything  was  going  smoothly  on  board, 
he  surrendered  the  wheel  to  his  partner  at  about  mid- 
night, and  retired  to  bed.  But  he  had  scarcely  fallen 
asleep  when  the  watchman  rushed  into  his  cabin,  crying 
that  the  boat  had  gone  hard  aground.  Hurrying  out,  the 
captain  found  her  jammed  up  on  the  bar  at  the  head  of 
the  Bijou  Hills  Reach,  two  miles  out  of  her  proper  course. 
He  was  greatly  incensed,  while  his  cub  pilot,  a  young  man 
named  John  Belt,  became  so  furious  at  LaBarge  that  he 
was  about  to  punish  that  offender  in  true  Western  style, 
when  Captain  Marsh  took  his  revolver  away  from  him 
and  threw  it  in  the  river. 

Vigorous  efforts  were  at  once  begun  to  get  the  boat  off, 
but  before  they  were  successful  the  Far  West  came  past 
and  continued  down  the  river.  The  Nellie  Peck  was  so 
long  in  regaining  deep  water  that  she  could  not  recover 

141 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


her  lead,  and  the  Far  West  beat  her  into  Sioux  City  by 
three  hours,  thus  securing  for  herself  the  coveted  supremacy 
of  the  river.  She  continued  to  hold  it  to  the  end,  for  a  few 
years  later  Captain  Marsh  himself,  in  the  most  dramatic 
steamboat  trip  of  the  Missouri  River's  thrilling  history, 
made  with  her  a  speed  record  which  never  has  been  and 
probably  never  will  be,  equaled. 

In  the  race  to  Sioux  City,  however.  Captain  Marsh's 
partner  pilot  seemed  to  receive  as  many  congratulations 
from  the  friends  of  the  victor  for  the  error  in  navigation 
which  had  cost  the  Nellie  Peck  the  race,  as  did  the  crew 
of  the  Far  West  themselves.  One  firm,  at  least,  in  Sioux 
City,  which  had  money  wagered  on  the  race,  presented 
him  with  a  memento  of  the  occasion  in  the  form  of  an 
expensive  suit  of  clothing.  But  neither  boat  had  given 
the  owners  any  cause  for  complaint,  for  each  cleared  about 
$12,000  on  the  voyage,  and  each  beat  by  several  days  all 
previous  records  for  the  round  trip  between  Sioux  City 
and  Fort  Benton. 

John  LaBarge  a  few  years  later  met  his  death  in  a  very 
dramatic  manner,  expiring  literally  "at  the  wheel."  A 
gentleman*  familiar  with  the  circumstances  has  thus 
described  them: 

"The  steamer  Benton,  Captain  John  C.  Barr,  master, 
backed  out  of  the  Bismarck  landing  on  a  trip  up  river. 
Captain  LaBarge  was  at  the  wheel  and  Barr  was  on  the 
roof.     LaBarge  stopped  his  engines,  got  her  straightened 

*  Mr.  E.  F.  Higbee,  of  the  U.  S.  Surveyor-General's  oflSce  at  Bis- 
marck, N.  Dak.,  in  a  letter  to  Captain  Marsh. 

142 


A   Three  Thousand  Mile  Race 


up  and  rang  his  go-ahead  bell.  Barr  on  the  roof  noticed 
that  she  swung  in  and  was  heading  for  the  bank  and  in 
line  with  the  Helena  and  some  other  boats  lying  at  the  ware- 
house. He  looked  around  and  there  was  no  one  at  the 
wheel;  he  called,  but  no  answer.  He  then  ran  for  the 
pilot-house  and  could  not  open  the  door,  as  LaBarge  was 
lying  on  the  floor  and  blocked  the  way.  He  shoved  the 
sash,  climbed  in  through  the  window,  and  stopped  the 
boat  just  in  time  to  save  her  from  ramming  the  Helena. 
Barr  dropped  her  back  and  landed,  and  it  was  found  that 
Captain  I^aBarge  was  dead,  and  the  verdict  was  heart 
failure." 


143 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE   RAILROAD   COMES 

Across  the  flats  of  stinging  sands. 
Through  thickets,  woods,  and  sere  uplands. 
Their  weary  pathway  shows. 

A  LONG  the  Missouri  and  its  tributaries  through 
/-%  the  years  from  1869  to  1872,  the  Indians  main- 
tained a  less  violently  hostile  attitude  toward  the 
whites  than  they  had  at  any  time  since  the  Minnesota 
outbreak.  The  chief  reason  for  their  good  behavior  was 
that  during  those  years  but  few  encroachments  were  made 
upon  the  territories  still  remaining  to  them,  and  so  little 
cause  for  friction  arose.  But  the  steadfast  aim  of  the  Gov- 
ernment was  to  induce  all  the  tribes  to  give  up  the  chase 
as  a  means  of  livelihood  and  settle  down  to  agriculture  at 
the  several  agencies  established  for  them.  The  eflForts 
made  in  this  direction  were  only  partially  successful,  for 
of  the  14,000  Indians  estimated  to  be  embraced  in  the 
Sioux  Nation  in  1869,  over  7,000  refused  to  remain  at  the 
agencies  and  continued  to  roam  about  the  Powder  River 
and  Big  Horn  regions  of  Montana  and  Wyoming,  main- 
taining themselves  comfortably  by  hunting  in  those  great 
grazing  grounds  of  the  buffalo.*     So  long  as  they  were 

*  Gen.  D.  S.  Stanley,  in  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
1869. 

144 


The  Railroad  Comes 


unmolested  in  their  chosen  retreat,  no  trouble  occurred, 
but  it  was  inevitable  that  sooner  or  later  they  must  be 
molested  by  the  onward-moving  forces  of  civilization. 

As  has  been  stated,  the  summer  of  1872  saw  the  North- 
ern Pacific  Railroad  completed  as  far  as  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  Missouri,  and  the  country  up  to  that  natural  boun- 
dary line  occupied  by  a  swarm  of  settlers.  The  ultimate 
destination  of  the  railroad  was  the  shore  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and  its  next  logical  step  in  that  direction  would  be 
across  the  Missouri  and  thence  westward  through  Montana 
to  the  now  well-developed  mining  sections  at  the  base  of 
the  Rockies,  where  the  inhabitants  were  impatiently 
awaiting  its  arrival.  In  making  that  step,  the  most  feasi- 
ble route  for  the  line  would  be  up  the  valley  of  the  Yel- 
lowstone River,  through  the  very  heart  of  the  territory 
occupied  by  the  hostile  Sioux.  That  they  would  bitterly 
oppose  any  movement  made  toward  beginning  the  work 
was  a  foregone  conclusion. 

The  Indians  were  not  without  justification  in  fiercely 
resenting  the  idea  of  an  invasion  of  this,  the  last  province 
of  their  ancestral  domain.  The  treaty  drawn  up  at  Fort 
Laramie  in  1868  had  distinctly  acknowledged  their  right 
of  possession  to  all  the  country  "  north  of  the  North  Platte 
River  and  east  of  the  summits  of  the  Big  Horn  Moun- 
tains," and  though  it  did  not  specify  what  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  territory  was  to  be,  the  Indians,  and 
doubtless  also  the  commissioners,  who  formulated  the 
treaty,  understood  that  it  was  to  be  the  Yellowstone 
River.     Nevertheless,    regardless    of   their    protests,    the 

145 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Government  not  only  permitted  the  projection  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  up  the  valley  of  the  Yellowstone,  but 
in  the  terms  of  its  charter  to  the  railroad  pledged  itself 
to  afford  the  enterprise  every  assistance  of  its  military 
power. 

In  fulfillment  of  its  promise,  an  escort  of  troops  was  fur- 
nished to  a  Northern  Pacific  surveying  party  which,  in 
1871,  projected  the  line  eastward  from  Bozeman  to  a 
point  on  the  Yellowstone  near  the  mouth  of  Pryor's  Fork. 
In  August  of  the  following  year,  a  detachment  of  400  men 
commanded  by  Major  E.  M.  Baker,  2nd  Cavalry,  set  out 
with  a  second  survey  under  Colonel  Hayden  to  carry  the 
line  on  from  Pryor's  Fork  to  the  mouth  of  Powder  River. 
It  had  been  previously  arranged  that  here  they  should  be 
met  by  another  party  moving  westward  from  Bismarck. 
But  Baker  and  Hayden  never  reached  the  Powder.  On 
the  night  of  August  14th,  while  lying  in  camp  opposite 
Pryor's  Fork  Bottom,  they  were  fiercely  attacked  by  nearly 
1,000  Sioux  and  Cheyenne  warriors  under  Black  Moon.* 
After  a  desperate  fight  the  assailants  were  repulsed  with 
loss,  but  the  confidence  of  the  surveyors  had  been  so 
shaken  that  they  proceeded  only  a  short  distance  farther 
and  then  insisted  upon  abandoning  the  expedition. f 
Although  the  column  from  the  East  reached  the  appointed 
meeting  place,  not  much  was  accomplished,  and  the  close 
of  1872  found  the  preliminary  line  of  survey  still  broken 
by  a  gap  several  hundred  miles  broad. 

*  "History  of  the  Sioux  Indians"  by  Doane  Robinson, 
t  Lieutenant  James  H.  Bradley's   Journal,  in  Contributions  to  the 
Historical  Society  of  Montana,  Vol.  II. 

146 


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The  Railroad  Comes 


In  the  meanwhile,  the  Indians  along  the  Missouri  itself 
were  becoming  restless  also.  When  the  railroad  reached 
Bismarck,  a  military  post  was  established  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river  a  short  distance  below  that  town  which 
was  at  first  called  Fort  McKean,  though  the  name  was 
soon  changed  to  Fort  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  Sioux,  as 
usual,  resented  the  building  of  the  post,  and  those  in  the 
adjacent  country,  who  were  mainly  of  the  Uncpapa  tribe, 
began  a  series  of  attacks  upon  it  of  a  nature  similar  to 
those  which  had  been  directed  by  Red  Cloud  upon  Fort 
Phil  Kearney.  The  garrison  of  Fort  Lincoln,  however, 
was  amply  large  to  protect  itself,  and  suffered  no  serious 
losses  during  the  year  1872.  But  the  ranks  of  the  hostiles 
were  being  constantly  augmented  by  Indians  from  the 
agencies,  who,  feeling  as  did  Red  Cloud  himself,  that  the 
Government  was  not  keeping  with  them  the  faith  pledged 
at  Fort  Laramie,  again  sought  the  warpath  in  defense  of 
what  they  regarded  as  their  rights.  Under  the  influence 
and  direction  of  such  chiefs  as  Black  Moon,  Gall,  Crazy 
Horse,  and  the  powerful  medicine  man,  Sitting  Bull, 
whose  sun  was  then  in  the  ascendant,  they  were  becoming 
so  troublesome  and  dangerous  that  at  length  Lieutenant- 
General  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  commanding  the  Military 
Division  of  the  Missouri,  decided  that  a  cavalry  regiment, 
which  could  effectually  pursue  and  punish  the  hostiles, 
must  be  assigned  to  the  Department  of  Dakota. 

In  response  to  his  request,  the  7th  Cavalry,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  and  Brevet  Major-General  George  A.  Custer 
commanding,  was  ordered  from  the  Military  Division  of 

147 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  South  to  the  Department  of  Dakota.  This  magnificent 
fighting  organization,  recruited  up  to  its  full  strength  with 
men  nearly  all  of  whom  had  become  veteranized  in  the 
Civil  War  or  along  the  frontier,  and  led  by  the  most  dash- 
ing and  picturesque  field-ofiicer  in  the  service,  left  New 
Orleans  on  the  1st  of  April,  1873,  and  proceeded  directly 
to  Yankton,  Dakota  Territory.  The  Dakota  Southern 
Railroad  had  just  been  completed  to  this  point,  and  here 
the  troops  were  detrained  and  preparations  were  made 
for  the  long  overland  march  up  the  valley  of  the  Missouri 
to  Forts  Lincoln  and  Rice,  where  the  regiment  was  to  go 
into  garrison. 


148 


CHAPTER  XXI 

WITH    FORSYTH    OF   BEECHER's    ISLAND 

There's  just  one  kind  of  officer  enlisted  men  can  like; 

The  kind  that  knows  his  business  when  the  shots  begin  to  strike. 

CAPTAIN  MARSH,  whose  life  for  the  next  few 
years  was  to  be  so  closely  connected  with  the  gal- 
lant Seventh,  was  in  Sioux  City  when  the  regiment 
passed  through  on  its  way  to  Yankton.  Some  time  be- 
fore, he  had  removed  his  family  from  St.  Louis  to  Sioux 
City  in  order  that  they  might  be  near  him,  as  his  business 
called  him  less  and  less  frequently  to  the  lower  river. 
During  the  summer  of  1873  he  again  moved,  this  time 
to  Yankton,  where  he  continued  to  make  his  home  for 
the  next  ten  years. 

The  Coulson  Packet  Company  bid  for  the  Government 
contract  for  carrying  troops  and  supplies  on  the  river  dur- 
ing the  season  of  1873,  and  secured  it  easily  from  all  com- 
petitors. The  company's  proposal  was  made  in  the  name 
of  Captain  Grant  Marsh,  and  was  accepted  by  General 
Sheridan  in  person.  The  captain's  chief  rival  for  the 
contract  was  Commodore  Kountz,  a  man  prominent  in 
the  Northwest  at  that  time  and  possessed  of  considerable 
public  influence.  But  the  Commodore's  disposition  was 
notoriously  irascible,  and  when  he  learned  that  the  con- 

149 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


tract  had  been  awarded  to  Captain  Marsh,  he  betook  him- 
self to  General  Sheridan  in  a  great  rage  and  informed  that 
officer  that  before  he  would  lose  the  work  he  would  take 
the  matter  to  the  United  States  Senate.  This  was  too 
much  for  "Little  Phil,"  and  with  equal  heat  he  replied 

that  the  Commodore  could  take  the  matter  to  h if  he 

wanted  to,  but  the  contract  was  let  to  a  responsible  man 
who  would  undoubtedly  fulfil  it  faithfully,  and  it  was  go- 
ing to  stay  let  to  him,  whether  Kountz  approved  or  not. 
Finding  that  he  had  met  a  Tartar,  the  Commodore  de- 
parted, and  nothing  more  was  heard  of  an  investigation 
by  the  Senate. 

As  soon  as  the  ice  went  out  in  the  spring,  the  steamer 
Key  West,  in  obedience  to  orders  from  General  Sheridan, 
started  for  Fort  Lincoln,  where  instructions  for  her 
further  movements  awaited  her.  The  General,  who  was 
familiar  with  the  trips  of  the  Ida  Stockdale  and  the  North 
Alabama  in  1867  and  1869,  directed  that  the  boat  be  placed 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Marsh.  The  latter,  as 
usual,  shipped  as  master  and  pilot,  the  other  officers  being 
Nick  Buesen,  pilot  and  clerk;  Charlie  Dietz,  mate;  and 
John  Shacklett,  first  engineer. 

Captain  Marsh  left  Sioux  City  about  April  8th  and 
arrived  at  Fort  Lincoln  on  May  2nd.  Here  he  found 
General  George  A.  Forsyth,  an  aide  on  General  Sheri- 
dan's staff,  who  had  orders  to  take  military  command  of 
the  steamer,  and  explore  the  Yellowstone  River  as  far  as 
the  mouth  of  the  Powder.  No  steamboat  had  ever  yet 
ascended  the  tumultuous  Yellowstone  to  this  point,  and 

150 


With  Forsyth  of  Beecher's  Island 

the  object  of  the  trip  was  to  learn  whether  it  was  navigable 
thus  far.  If  it  proved  so,  the  intention  was  that  one  or 
more  boats  should  later  on  carry  up  supplies  for  the  mili- 
tary expedition  which  had  been  planned  to  ascend  the 
Yellowstone  Valley  during  the  summer  as  an  escort  to 
the  Northern  Pacific  surveyors. 

General  Forsyth,  the  officer  selected  to  conduct  this  pre- 
liminary exploration,  was  a  man  admirably  fitted  for  the 
work.  He  was  called  "Sandy"  Forsyth  out  on  the  plains 
of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  where  he  had  gained  wide  fame 
for  bravery  and  resourcefulness  as  an  Indian  fighter,  es- 
pecially in  1868,  when,  with  a  handful  of  scouts,  he  made 
his  splendid  defense  of  Beecher's  Island,  on  the  Arikaree 
Fork  of  the  Republican  River,  Colorado,  against  an  over- 
whelming Cheyenne  force  under  Roman  Nose,  A  briga- 
dier-general of  volunteers  in  the  Civil  War,  he  had  been 
given  a  major's  commission  in  the  permanent  establish- 
ment at  its  close,  and  for  his  work  at  Beecher's  Island  was 
breveted  brigadier-general  of  regulars.  A  close  personal 
friend  of  General  Sheridan,  he  had  accompanied  that 
dashing  Commander  on  his  famous  ride  down  the  hard- 
pressed  Union  battle-line  at  Winchester  in  '64,  and  "  Little 
Phil"  had  kept  him  close  to  his  side  ever  since.  At  the 
time  Captain  Marsh  first  met  him  at  Fort  Lincoln,  he  was 
a  young  man  hardly  past  thirty,  keen-eyed,  square-jawed, 
and  quick  of  speech;  an  energetic,  observant  cavalryman 
of  the  best  type,  thoroughly  trained  in  the  rough  school  of 
active  service. 

The  Key  West  was  setting  forth  to  penetrate  the  center 
151 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


of  the  hostile  country,  and  she  could  not  safely  attempt 
it  without  strong  military  protection.  But  no  escort 
could  be  obtained  at  Fort  Lincoln,  for  the  post  was  gar- 
risoned that  spring  by  only  two  companies  of  the  6tb 
Infantry,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  P.  Carlin,  who 
had  enough  to  attend  to  in  guarding  their  immediate 
territory  without  sending  detachments  elsewhere.  The 
escort  was  therefore  to  come  on  board  at  Fort  Buford,  the 
headquarters  of  the  6th  Infantry,  where  the  commanding 
officer.  Colonel  W.  B.  Hazen,  had  five  companies  of  his 
regiment. 

At  Lincoln,  however.  General  Forsyth  secured  the  serv- 
ices of  two  French  and  Indian  half-breeds  as  guides  for 
the  trip.  They  were  really  nothing  more  than  loafers 
about  the  post,  or  "coffee-coolers,"  as  such  men  were 
termed  along  the  river,  but  tempted  by  the  high  wages 
paid  to  scouts,  they  undertook  the  part,  professing  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  country  to  be  visited.  The 
General  at  first  relied  upon  their  claims,  until  the  test  of 
actual  service  proved  their  ignorance,  for  the  little  knowl- 
edge they  did  possess  they  had  picked  up  by  listening  to 
the  talk  of  the  Indians  in  their  camps.  No  sooner  had  the 
boat  progressed  a  short  distance  along  the  Missouri  than 
they  became  hopelessly  confused,  and  when  questions  were 
put  to  them  concerning  the  topography  of  the  country, 
they  resorted  to  a  pretense  of  being  unable  to  understand 
English. 

The  General  began  to  fear  that  he  would  have  to  enter 
the   Yellowstone   without    suitable   guides,   and    in   this 

152 


With  Forsyth  of  Beecher's  Island 

dilemma  came  to  Captain  Marsh  for  assistance.  As  has 
been  said  before,  the  captain  was  well  acquainted  with 
nearly  all  of  the  few  hardy  men  who  then  frequented  the 
wild  banks  of  the  Missouri,  and  he  at  once  recollected 
one  among  them  who,  he  felt  sure,  would  meet  General 
Forsyth's  most  exacting  requirements.  The  man  in  ques- 
tion was  an  individual  remarkable  even  in  that  country  of 
strong  personalities  and  one  who  later  became  familiar  in 
the  annals  of  the  Northwest  as  a  trusted  scout  of  Generals 
Terry,  Custer  and  Miles  in  some  of  their  most  important 
campaigns.  His  name  was  Luther  S.  Kelly,  though  he 
was  better  known  as  "  Yellowstone  "  Kelly,  and  his  career 
had  been  of  a  nature  to  compare  favorably  with  those  of 
the  most  desperate  heroes  of  "Wild  West"  novels.  An 
outline  of  it  is  well  worth  recording: 

In  1868,  Kelly  was  living  in  New  York  State,  a  boy  of 
nineteen,  just  out  of  school,  with  a  good  preparatory  edu- 
cation and  the  son  of  a  prosperous  family.  Like  most 
boys  of  his  age,  he  had  absorbed  many  volumes  of  melo- 
dramatic Western  romance,  and  aspired  to  become  a 
slayer  of  Indians  on  his  own  account.  But  he  differed 
from  most  boys  in  that  he  proceeded  to  put  his  ambitions 
into  practice.  Leaving  his  comfortable  home,  he  made  his 
way  westward,  overcoming  all  hardships  and  diflBculties, 
until  one  day  he  stepped  from  the  gangplank  of  a  steam- 
boat to  the  river  bank  in  front  of  Fort  Stevenson,  and  found 
himself,  a  verdant  "tenderfoot,"  two  thousand  miles  from 
home,  standing  on  a  spot  where  the  crack  of  Sioux  rifles 
might  resound  at  any  moment.     The  men  about  the  post, 

153 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


especially  the  "coffee-coolers,"  were  quick  to  recognize 
his  youth  and  inexperience.  They  nicknamed  him  "  The 
Kid,"  and  at  once  commenced  trying  to  make  life  a 
burden  to  him  by  all  manner  of  ridicule  and  petty  per- 
secution. But  Kelly  kept  his  nerve  and  good-naturedly 
bore  their  treatment  until  an  opportunity  should  arise  for 
showing  his  metal.     After  a  while  it  came. 

The  country  about  Fort  Stevenson,  as  usual,  was  in- 
fested that  year  with  hostile  Sioux,  who  were  making  war 
not  only  upon  the  whites  but  also  upon  their  hereditary 
Indian  enemies,  the  Mandan,  Arikaree  and  Grosventres 
Indians,  whose  agency  was  at  Fort  Berthold.  So  dangerous 
was  the  road  between,  that  when,  about  once  a  month,  the 
mail  was  sent  from  Fort  Stevenson  to  Fort  Buford,  a  full 
company  of  mounted  troops  was  deemed  necessary  to 
escort  it.  Shortly  after  Kelly's  arrival  a  mail  came  in  for 
Buford  when  most  of  the  garrison  was  out  on  scout,  so 
that  no  troops  were  available  to  escort  it  to  its  destination. 
Kelly  learned  of  the  situation,  and,  seeking  the  command- 
ing officer,  coolly  offered  to  take  the  mail  through  alone. 
The  astonished  soldier  at  first  refused  to  treat  the  proposal 
seriously,  for  it  seemed  nothing  short  of  madness.  But 
the  boy  urged  his  plea  so  earnestly  and  confidently  that  at 
last  he  was  given  permission  to  try  it. 

When  he  set  out,  his  late  associates  crowded  around  him 
with  cheering  predictions  that  before  he  had  gone  a  mile 
from  the  post  he  would  be  killed,  but  he  merely  laughed 
and  went  on.  A  few  hours  later  he  walked,  unharmed, 
into  Durfee    &  Peck's  trading-store  at   Fort   Berthold, 

154 


From  ;in  old  tin-t>i>o. 

•YKJ.I.OWSTONE"  KELLY  L\  1870 

(Mr.  Kelly  is  seated  at  the  rij^ht;   John  C.cHJrtre  Brown  at  the  left;    and  Ed 

Lambert   a  Canadian  character  of  the  upper  Missouri,  in  the  center.) 


With  Forsyth  oj  Beecher's  Island 


eighteen  miles  from  Stevenson.  His  appearance  created 
a  sensation,  especially  among  the  Mandan,  Grosventres 
and  Arikaree  Indians,  who,  decimated  by  long  and  disas- 
trous warfare,  were  crowded  together  there  in  a  great 
stockade,  practically  besieged  by  the  Sioux,  These  unfor- 
tunate people  thronged  about  the  mail  carrier  in  wonder 
and  admiration,  for  it  seemed  to  them  little  less  than 
miraculous  that  a  white  man  could  come  alive  through  a 
country  haunted  by  their  stealthy  foes. 

But  Kelly  paused  at  Berthold  only  long  enough  to 
refresh  himself,  and  then  pressed  on  toward  Buford,  still 
200  miles  distant.  For  four  miles  along  the  crests  of  the 
river  bluffs  he  traveled  unmolested.  Then  he  came  to  a 
steep  coulee  cutting  down  into  the  valley,  its  sides  fringed 
with  timber.  Just  as  he  reached  the  bottom  of  it,  a  rifle 
rang  out  and  a  bullet  whizzed  past  his  head.  He  leaped 
aside  and  dropped  behind  a  fallen  log.  His  assailants  were 
three  Sioux  warriors,  and  before  he  left  the  coulee  Kelly 
had  slain  them  all.  He  then  returned  to  Berthold  and 
calmly  reported  his  victory.  The  cowering  Indians  there 
went  wild  with  delight  at  the  news,  and  Bloody  Knife,  an 
Arikaree  warrior,  immediately  sallied  forth  to  the  scene 
of  battle,  stripped  the  scalps  from  the  dead  Sioux  and 
brought  them  back.*    The  admiration  of  the  Fort  Ber- 

*  Despite  this  act  of  cowardly  bravado,  Bloody  Knife  was  a  courage- 
ous warrior,  of  whose  daredevil  exploits  many  stories  once  existed. 
Some  of  these  have  been  preserved  in  Joseph  H.  Taylor's  invaluable 
personal  recollections  of  the  Northwestern  frontier,  embraced  in  his 
'Kaleidoscopic  IJves"  and  "Frontier  and  Indian  Life,"  published  by 
the  author  at  Washburn,  North  Dakota.  Years  later.  Bloody  Knife 
was  one  of  Custer's  most  trusted  scouts  in  the  Little  Big  Horn  cam- 

155 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


thold  Indians  for  Kelly  became  unbounded,  and  they  dub- 
bed him  "The-Little-Man-With-A-Strong-Heart."  After 
reporting,  he  at  once  resumed  his  journey  and  reached 
Fort  Buford  without  further  adventure.  He  then  took  the 
contract  for  carrying  the  mail  during  the  rest  of  the  year, 
and  performed  the  hazardous  work  with  complete  success. 
The  Sioux  had  become  so  frightened  by  his  "strong 
medicine  "  that  they  feared  to  attack  him  openly,  while  he 
was  always  too  much  on  the  alert  to  be  caught  unawares. 
But  he  soon  tired  of  so  prosaic  an  occupation  as  carry- 
ing mail,  though  it  would  seem  that  under  the  circum- 
stances it  ought  to  have  furnished  him  with  enough  excite- 
ment. His  restless  spirit  longed  for  regions  never  trodden 
by  the  feet  of  white  men,  and  the  next  summer,  quite  alone, 
he  set  out  up  the  valley  of  the  mysterious  Yellowstone.  All 
that  season  he  remained  there,  hunting,  trapping  and 
exploring  the  hidden  fastnesses  of  a  country  rich  in  rugged 
beauties.  Love  of  the  land  and  its  solitude  kept  him  there, 
but  in  the  autumn  he  returned  to  Buford  and  quietly  took 
up  his  winter  abode  in  one  of  the  timbered  bends  of  the 
Missouri.  In  the  meantime,  however,  the  tale  of  his 
hardihood  had  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  along  the 
borderland,  and  far  and  wide  he  was  known  by  the 
sobriquet  which  has  outlived  all  his  previous  ones,  "Yel- 
lowstone" Kelly. 

paign,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  fall  with  Reno's  command  on  the  fatal 
25th  of  June,  1876.  He  was  at  the  side  of  Major  Reno  when  killed  and 
it  was  said  that  that  officer  first  lost  his  self-control  when  the  brains  of 
Bloody  Knife  were  spattered  in  his  face  by  the  bullet  which  crushed  the 
Arikaree's  skull. — J.  M.  H, 


156 


With  Forsyth  of  Beecher's  Island 

With  this  hermit  of  the  water  courses  Captain  Marsh 
was  intimately  acquainted.  In  1871  and  1872  his  boat 
had  been  the  first  one  up  in  the  spring,  and  in  both  years 
he  had  found  Kelly  at  his  winter  camp  and  conveyed  him 
to  the  nearest  fort  to  sell  his  pelts  and  furs,  the  fruits  of 
his  winter's  trapping.  When  General  Forsyth  asked  him 
to  recommend  a  guide  for  the  Yellowstone,  Captain  Marsh 
therefore  gave  him  an  account  of  Kelly  and  his  history. 
The  General  was  delighted,  for  in  the  description  he  recog- 
nized a  man  after  his  own  ideals,  but  he  expressed  a  fear 
that,  much  as  they  wanted  him,  Kelly  might  not  be  found. 
The  captain  replied  that  he  need  feel  no  uneasiness  on 
that  score,  as  the  frontiersman  would  certainly  be  met 
with  somewhere  between  Stevenson  and  Buford. 


157 


CHAPTER  XXII 

"Yellowstone"  kelly  guides  the  key  west 

Tve  seen  some  bits  o'  service  of  a  somewhat  stirrin'  brand. 

When  the  West  xcas  caUin'  lusty  for  a  civilizin'  hand; 

And,  myself,  I've  had  some  practice  in  that  missionary  work. 

With  the  men  that  did  the  business,  from  the  buttes  to  Albuquerque. 

THE  next  afternoon  the  Key  West  was  steaming 
leisurely  through  one  of  the  sweeping  bends  near 
the  spot  where  the  North  Alabama  had  become 
icebound  four  years  earlier.  As  the  boat  headed  the  bend, 
Captain  Marsh  from  the  pilot-house  discovered,  on  the 
next  timber  point,  a  rude  log  cabin  partly  hidden  in  the 
forest.  It  was  just  such  a  place  as  an  experienced  fron- 
tiersman would  select  for  a  camp  of  some  duration,  for 
the  heavy  woods  on  every  side  concealed  it  entirely  from 
the  prairie  bluffs  where  Indian  scouts  might  prowl,  and 
protected  it  against  the  storms  of  winter.  Near  by  and 
close  to  the  cut-bank  lay  a  long,  even  pile  of  freshly  hewn 
cordwood,  and  before  the  cabin  door  stood  a  solitary 
human  figure,  leaning  motionless  on  a  rifle  and  watching 
the  approaching  boat.  The  captain,  recognizing  the 
figure  instantly,  put  the  wheel  over  and  brought  the  boat 
to  land,  and  Kelly,  a  little  more  mature,  but  otherwise 
unchanged  since  their  last  meeting,  stepped  to  the  deck. 

158 


''Yellowstone"  Kelly  Guides  the  ''Key  West'* 

An  extremely  taciturn  man,  his  greeting  was  brief  and 
a  bargain  was  soon  struck  for  the  welcome  pile  of  cord- 
wood  which  he  had  cut  during  the  winter  to  sell  to  the  first 
boat  up.  Then,  while  the  crew  were  busy  carrying  it 
aboard,  the  captain  led  him  to  the  boiler  deck  and  intro- 
duced him  to  Forsyth.  As  he  looked  up,  the  General 
could  not  conceal  his  surprise  and  admiration.  Before 
him  stood  a  man  reticent  of  speech  and  modest  of  de- 
meanor, yet  highly  picturesque  in  appearance  and  bearing 
himself  with  an  air  of  self-reliance  and  hardihood  which 
could  not  be  mistaken.  He  was  dressed  entirely  in  a  suit 
of  fringed  buckskin,  and  his  feet  were  encased  in  beaded 
moccasins.  His  face,  darkly  tanned  by  sun  and  weather, 
was  smooth-shaven  except  for  a  slender  mustache,  and  his 
features  were  lean  with  the  hard,  muscular  gauntness  of  a 
hunting  animal  that  carries  not  an  ounce  of  superfluous 
flesh.  A  mass  of  thick  hair,  straight  and  black  as  an 
Indian's,  was  swept  back  from  his  forehead  and  hung 
below  his  shoulders.  Across  his  arm  he  carried  a  long, 
breech-loading  Springfield  rifle,  army  model,  on  the  butt 
of  which  was  carved  the  name  he  had  bestowed  upon  this 
trusty  companion  and  guardian  of  his  lonely  life,  "  Old 
Sweetness."  The  rifle's  barrel  from  muzzle  to  stock  was 
covered  with  the  skin  of  a  great  bull-snake,  shrunk  on  so 
tightly  that  it  resembled  varnishing. 

It  was  small  wonder  that  the  man's  appearance  im- 
pressed General  Fors}ih,  who  questioned  him  briefly  as 
to  his  knowledge  of  the  Yellowstone,  and  then  informed 
him  that  the  boat  was  going  up  for  the  purpose  of  explor- 

159 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


ing  that  stream  and  that  his  services  as  guide  would  be 
very  welcome  if  he  would  consent  to  act.  The  young  man 
answered  the  General's  questions  in  the  fewest  possible 
words,  but  it  was  plainly  to  be  seen  that  his  interest  was 
aroused  and  that  he  was  anxious  to  accompany  the  expe- 
dition. Turning  to  Captain  Marsh,  he  said  that  he 
would  be  glad  to  go  if  the  captain  would  take  his  peltries 
on  board  and  stop  at  Fort  Buford  long  enough  for  him  to 
dispose  of  them.  To  this  the  captain  readily  consented, 
the  fur  packs  were  brought  on  deck,  and  leaving  his 
little  winter's  home  to  crumble  away  on  its  lonely  timber 
point,  Kelly  steamed  off  up  the  river  as  a  Government 
scout. 

At  Fort  Buford,  two  companies  of  the  6th  Infantry, 
under  Captains  M.  Bryant  and  D.  H.  Murdock,  were 
taken  on  board  and  the  Key  West  entered  the  Yellowstone 
on  May  6th,  where  she  remained  for  nine  days.  The 
water  was  found  to  be  very  low,  for  the  winter's  snows  had 
not  yet  commenced  to  melt  in  the  mountains  where  the 
Yellowstone  and  its  tributaries  take  their  rise.  But  the 
deposits  of  driftwood  along  the  banks  indicated  unmis- 
takal^ly  that  during  the  summer  season  the  volume  of 
water  would  be  much  greater.  The  boat  had  gone  but  a 
few  miles  when  she  came  to  a  spot  where  the  stream  spread 
out  into  a  great  shallow  full  of  sandbars  and  intersected 
by  numerous  small  chutes.  It  seemed  that  she  had 
already  reached  her  journey's  end,  but  by  sounding  care- 
fully with  the  yawl  a  channel  was  at  length  found  through 
which  she  could  be  worked  by  using  the  spars.     She  was 

160 


'*  Yellowstone''  Kelly  Guides  the  ''Key  West*' 

taken  through  safely,  and  though  several  more  such  places 
were  encountered,  she  surmounted  them  all. 

The  channel  of  the  Yellowstone,  except  near  the  mouth, 
differs  radically  from  that  of  the  Missouri.  From  Stan- 
ley's Shoals,  forty-two  miles  above  Fort  Buford,  it  has  a 
gravel  bottom,  interspersed  with  many  dangerous  rock- 
reefs,  in  passing  which  the  most  skillful  navigation  is  nec- 
essary. But  Marsh  and  Buesen  proved  equal  to  the  task. 
Much  time  was  consumed  in  cutting  fuel,  the  soldiers 
assisting  in  the  work,  always  as  guards  and  sometimes  as 
choppers  and  sawyers.  The  fuel  problem,  on  this  as  on 
subsequent  voyages  up  the  Yellowstone,  proved  one  of  the 
most  serious  the  captain  had  to  contend  with.  In  recent 
years,  however,  he  has  noticed  a  curious  change  in  the 
flora  of  the  country,  due,  so  he  believes,  to  the  removal  of 
the  Indians.  During  the  early  '70s,  the  absence  of  large 
timber  in  the  valley  was  very  noticeable.  The  cotton- 
woods,  the  largest  tree  indigenous  to  the  section,  were 
small  and  scattering,  and  it  was  difficult  to  find  even  green 
wood  to  cut,  for  though  willow  brush  extended  all  along 
the  banks,  the  individual  trees  were  mere  saplings. 

The  Indians  then  were  in  the  habit  of  making  their 
winter  camps  along  the  valley,  of  course  bringing  with 
them  their  great  herds  of  ponies,  of  which  the  Montana 
tribes,  both  Sioux  and  Crows,  possessed  an  unusual 
number.  These  tribes  were  constantly  engaged  in  war 
with  one  another,  and  it  behooved  every  camp  to  guard 
its  herd  carefully  against  raiding  parties  of  the  enemy. 
The  timber  furnished  the  safest  hiding  place,  and  here  the 

161 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


ponies  roamed  during  the  winter.  Forage  being  naturally 
poor  in  such  localities,  the  animals  gnawed  the  bark  of  the 
cottonwoods,  the  most  palatable  food  they  could  find,  and 
thus  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  the  pony  herd  of  a 
single  camp  would  girdle  and  kill  the  cottonwoods  for 
miles  around.  After  his  last  trip  up  the  Yellowstone  dur- 
ing the  Sioux  wars,  Captain  Marsh  did  not  again  ascend 
the  river  for  more  than  twenty-five  years,  and  in  the  mean- 
time the  Indians  had  long  been  removed  to  their  reserva- 
tions elsewhere.  When  he  next  breasted  the  current  of 
the  stream,  he  found  its  banks  lined  with  magnificent 
forests  of  cottonwood,  which  had  found  opportunity  to 
grow  and  flourish  after  the  calico  ponies,  with  their  gnaw- 
ing proclivities,  had  vanished. 

As  the  Key  West  penetrated  farther  up  the  valley,  game 
was  encountered  in  more  than  mere  abundance;  the  coun- 
try fairly  teemed  with  it.  Vast  herds  of  buffalo  were  mi-  * 
grating  over  the  prairies,  and  in  the  river  bottom  and 
among  the  broken  stretches  of  rough  bad-lands  back  from 
the  stream,  antelope  and  elk  wandered  in  droves,  like 
cattle.  The  elk,  indeed,  were  so  numerous  in  this  region 
that  the  Indian  name  for  the  Yellowstone  had  always  been 
Elk  River.  In  the  long  spring  evenings,  after  the  boat's 
headlines  had  been  made  fast  to  the  bank  for  the  night, 
"  Yellowstone "  Kelly  would  set  out  with  "  Old  Sweet- 
ness "  across  his  arm  and  a  blanket  over  his  shoulders  and 
stride  away  alone  into  the  darkness.  Sometime  the  next 
morning  the  boat,  steaming  around  a  bend,  would  find 
him  waiting  on  the  bank  with  the  choicest  parts  of  several 

162 


''Yellowstone"  Kelly  Guides  the  ''Key  West** 

antelope,  elk,  buflFalo  or  perhaps  other  game,  in  suflficient 
quantity  to  keep  the  boat's  company  on  royal  fare  for  two 
or  three  days.  Since  the  steamer  had  to  follow  all  the 
meanderings  of  the  channel  while  Kelly  could  move  across 
the  necks  of  the  bends,  he  had  ample  time  for  hunting 
before  she  could  overtake  him. 

Nor  were  the  spoils  of  his  rifle  the  only  results  of  these 
excursions.  He  would  return  to  the  Key  West  with  a 
fund  of  information  concerning  the  country  through  which 
he  had  passed;  the  woods  and  prairies  and  bottom- 
lands, where  the  creeks  headed  and  how  they  took  their 
course,  and  what  signs  of  Indians  he  had  met  with.  Much 
of  this  information  proved  not  only  of  immediate  benefit 
but  was  valuable  to  the  expeditions  of  subsequent  years. 
Kelly,  indeed,  made  himself  the  most  useful  member  of 
the  exploring  party,  excepting  only  Captain  Marsh,  and 
gained  by  his  services  not  alone  the  confidence  but  the 
friendship  of  General  Forsyth.* 

At  the  mouth  of  Glendive  Creek,  about  125  miles  above 
Fort  Buford,  General  Forsyth  had  reason  to  believe  that 
the  Northern  Pacific  would  cross  the  Yellowstone,  and 

*  The  "Yellowstone"  Kelly  of  the  Sioux  wars  is  to-day  Major  Luther 
S.  Kelly  of  the  United  States  Indian  Service,  agent  for  the  Apaches  and 
Mohaves  at  San  Carlos,  Arizona.  His  hfe,  ever  since  the  close  of  the 
Northwestern  border  disturbances,  has  been  an  active  and  adventurous 
one,  and  spent  chiefly  in  the  service  of  his  country,  as  is  shown  in  the 
succeeding  extract  from  a  letter  recently  received  from  him  by  the  author: 

"  *  *  *  J  ^vas  a  scout  until  1883,  then  went  into  the  War  De- 
partment, and  in  1898  went  to  Alaska,  exploring,  later  coming  back  to 
take  my  commission  as  Captain  in  the  Volunteers.  I  then  went  to  the 
Philippines,  where,  after  my  service  in  the  army,  I  was  appointed  Treas- 
urer of  one  of  the  large  proNinces.  I  was  appointed  U.  S.  Indian  Agent 
at  San  Carlos,  Arizona,  after  spending  four  years  in  the  Islands.  *    *    *" 

1G3 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


here  an  excellent  location  for  a  supply  depot  was  found 
and  reconnoitered.  No  Indians  were  encountered,  and 
though  the  boat's  people  were  constantly  on  the  alert  for 
them  in  case  they  should  appear,  the  trip  was  a  pleasant 
one  for  all  concerned.  Over  the  valley  and  the  vast, 
ridge-ribbed  prairies  beyond,  the  promise  of  spring  was 
beginning  to  break  the  long  spell  of  winter.  The  grass 
and  the  brilliant  early  flowers  of  that  northern  latitude  had 
not  yet  started  up  on  the  level  plains  which  invariably 
border  the  Yellowstone  on  one  side  or  the  other,  but  the 
vivid  green  of  the  bottom-land  willow  thickets,  as  yet 
untarnished  by  the  scorching  breath  of  summer,  formed 
an  aisle  of  verdure  along  the  swift-running  river  for  the 
progress  of  the  boat. 

In  the  years  after  the  traditions  of  the  pioneers  have  died 
out,  it  is  often  a  mystery  how  and  why  the  natural  features 
of  a  region  originally  received  the  names  by  which  they 
are  known.  No  such  mystery  exists  regarding  the  Yellow- 
stone Valley,  for  nearly  all  of  its  natural  features  were  given 
their  names  by  Captain  Marsh,  and  for  a  very  simple 
reason.  Like  any  pilot  who  feels  a  pride  in  professional 
knowledge,  the  captain  always  kept  a  detailed  log  of  his 
trips,  especially  on  waters  which  he  had  not  previously 
navigated.  Therein  he  recorded  the  course  of  the  chan- 
nel, the  locations  of  the  islands  and  chutes,  the  nature  of 
the  banks  and  any  other  data  which  might  prove  useful  in 
future  voyages.  If  names  were  given  to  these  topographi- 
cal formations,  their  later  identification  would  be  much 
simplified,  and  so,  during  this  first  exploration  of  the  valley 

164 


"Yellowstone"'  Kelly  Guides  the  "'Key  West'* 

by  steamboat,  Captain  Marsh,  assisted  by  Clerk  Buesen, 
bestowed  names  right  and  left  upon  islands,  bluffs  and 
rapids.  These  were  later  recorded  by  a  representative  of 
the  War  Department  and  applied  in  official  maps  and 
documents  to  the  points  designated,  thus  becoming  per- 
manently embodied  in  the  nomenclature  of  the  region. 
The  appellations  given  to  some  of  the  more  important  of 
these  points  may  be  mentioned,  as  well  as  the  reasons  for 
their  use. 

Forsyth  Butte,  the  first  prominent  bluflF  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Yellowstone  above  its  junction  with  the  Missouri, 
was  so  called  in  honor  of  the  military  commander  of  the 
expedition.  Cut  Nose  Butte,  Chimney  Rock  and  Dia- 
mond Island  were  named  because  of  their  fancied  resem- 
blance to  these  objects.  A  group  of  seven  small  islands  a 
few  miles  above  Diamond  Island  were  called  by  Captain 
Marsh  the  Seven  Sisters  Islands,  in  remembrance  of  his 
seven  sisters.  Crittenden  Island  was  so  designated  for 
General  T.  L.  Crittenden,  commanding  the  17th  Infantry, 
which  at  that  time  was  garrisoning  various  posts  along  the 
Missouri.  Mary  Island  became  a  perpetual  monument 
to  the  chambermaid  of  the  Key  West,  wife  of  the  steward, 
"Dutch  Jake."  Reno  Island  was  named  for  Major  M. 
A.  Reno,  of  the  7th  Cavalry;  Schindel  Island,  for  a  cap- 
tain of  the  6th  Infantry;  Bryant's  Buttes,  for  Major  M. 
Bryant,  commanding  the  escort  of  the  Key  West;  Edgerly 
Island,  for  Lieutenant  W.  S.  Edgerly  of  the  7th  Cavalry; 
Monroe  Island,  for  the  captain's  brother,  Monroe  Marsh; 
DeRussy  Rapids,  for  Isaac  D.  DeRussy,  later  Lieutenant- 

165 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Colonel  of  the  14th  Infantry;  McCune  Rapids*  for  one 
of  the  captain's  old  friends  in  St.  Louis;  and  Ban's  Bluff, 
for  another  old  friend.  Almost  at  the  Powder  River, 
Stanley's  Point  was  named  for  the  colonel  of  the  22nd 
Infantry,  while  immediately  across  the  Yellowstone  from 
the  mouth  of  that  stream,  a  gigantic  bluff,  rising  abruptly 
above  the  valley  and  dominating  the  country  for  miles 
around,  was  fittingly  christened  Sheridan's  Buttes,  in 
honor  of  the  indefatigable  Lieutenant-General  under  whose 
direction  the  land  was  being  slowly  won  from  the  sway  of 
the  red  man. 

Besides  the  points  mentioned  by  reason  of  their  associa- 
tion with  the  gallant  men  of  the  military  frontier,  the  cap- 
tain gave  titles  to  many  other  buttes,  islands  and  rapids 
for  more  trivial  reasons.  In  fact,  nearly  every  natural 
object  along  the  Yellowstone  from  its  mouth  to  the  Pow- 
der, received  its  name,  if  it  has  one,  from  him,  excepting 
only  the  creeks,  most  of  which  had  been  named  by  Cap- 
tain William  Clark  when  he  descended  the  river  in  1806. 

On  the  seventh  day  after  her  departure  from  Fort 
Buford,  the  Key  West  arrived  within  two  miles  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Powder,  and  here  her  progress  ended.  An 
insurmountable  reef  of  rocks  prevented  her  going  further, 
though  it  was  evident  that  later  in  the  season  this  would 
offer  no  serious  obstacle.  Moreover,  the  indications  were 
that  the  river  would  then  prove  navigable  far  above  that 
point,  and  Kelly's  previous  observations  also  tended  to 
confirm  this.     The  object  of  the  trip,  however,  had  been 

*  Incorrectly  spelled  "McKeon"  on  Government  maps. — J.  M.  H. 

166 


**  Yellowstone"  Kelly  Guides  the  '* Key  West" 

attained,  and  the  boat  turned  about  on  her  homeward 
run. 

To  the  commander  of  the  Key  West  probably  more  than 
to  any  other,  the  expedition  had  owed  its  complete  suc- 
cess. The  skill  with  which  he  navigated  his  vessel  through 
the  intricate  channel  of  a  river  never  before  ascended  thus 
far  by  a  steamboat,  elicited  the  praise  of  all  the  army 
officers  on  board.  In  this  connection,  the  comments  of 
General  Forsyth,  together  with  his  graphic  description 
of  Captain  Marsh  as  he  remembers  him  at  that  time, 
are  of  interest.* 

"During  the  years  1866  to  1871,"  says  General  For- 
syth, "  I  had  occasion  to  go  up  and  down  the  Mississippi 
River  from  New  Orleans  to  St.  Louis  several  times,  and 
made  the  acquaintance  of  a  number  of  well-known  steam- 
boat captains  of  those  days.  They  were  all  good  men 
and  competent,  too,  but  none  of  them  impressed  me  as 
did  Captain  Marsh  in  our  first  interview  at  Fort  Lincoln. 
General  Sheridan  had  told  me  that  I  would  meet  in  him 
one  of  the  best  specimens  of  the  river  man  whom  he  had 
ever  known,  and  one  who  was  absolutely  reliable  in  all 
respects  and  safe  to  be  depended  upon  in  any  emergency. 
I  was,  therefore,  already  impressed  in  his  favor,  and  my 
first  interview  with  the  quiet,  cool,  self-contained  and 
straightforward  river  captain,  satisfied  me  that  he  was 
the  ideal  man  of  his  profession.     Years  of  considerable 

*  These  are  contained  in  a  letter  written  to  the  author  by  General 
Forsyth,  whose  own  published  works,  which  include,  "  The  Story  of  the 
Soldier,"  and  "Thrilling  Days  in  Army  Life,"  contain  no  account  of 
the  trip  of  the  Key  West— J.  M.  H. 

167 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


experience  since  those  days  among  steamboat  men  of  his 
rank,  have  only  confirmed  me  in  the  accuracy  of  the 
opinion  I  then  formed. 

"At  that  time,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  Captain 
Marsh  was  a  man  about  thirty-five  or  possibly  thirty-eight 
years  of  age,  straight  as  an  arrow  and,  while  not  spare  in 
person,  not  overweighted  with  flesh.  He  was  pleasant- 
spoken  and  gentle-mannered,  with  clean-cut  features 
lighted  up  by  a  pair  of  wonderfully  clear  eyes  that  caught 
my  immediate  attention ;  quick  of  movement  but  reserved 
in  manner  and  quite  deliberate  in  speech.  In  our  trip  up 
the  Yellowstone,  which  we  ascended  at  a  very  low  stage 
of  water,  he  was  constantly  on  deck  and  always  alert, 
whether  his  boat  was  in  the  stream  during  the  day  or  tied 
up  against  the  river  bank  at  night.  His  judgment  as  to 
what  he  could  do  with  the  Key  West  in  threading  the  un- 
known shoals  and  working  through  the  rapids  among  dan- 
gerous and  partially  submerged  rocks,  was  good  to  see, 
and  his  skill  in  handling  his  boat  and  in  using  his  spars 
and  hawsers  to  force  her  over  and  through  sandy  shallows 
and  gravelly  rijffles  showed  a  most  capable  knowledge  of 
his  vocation. 

"  Our  guide,  known  as '  Yellowstone '  Kelly,  was  another 
capable  character,  who  gave  us  much  information  of  the 
country  on  each  side  of  the  river  through  which  we  were 
passing,  and  he  has  since  won  a  lasting  reputation  on  the 
old  Western  frontier  as  an  able  scout  and  a  reliable  guide. 
The  report  of  Captain  Marsh  upon  the  river  conditions 
found  on  that  trip  was  the  nucleus  upon  which  in  later 

168 


*' Yellowstone''  Kelly  Guides  the  ''Key  WesV 

years  was  built  up  the  knowledge  of  all  Yellowstone  River 
pilots. 

"At  the  time  this  voyage  was  made,  the  whole  upper 
country  was  in  the  possession  of  the  hostile  Sioux,  and  the 
fact  that  such  conditions  prevailed  was  the  reason  I  was 
detailed  to  go  with  the  expedition,  as  it  was  thought  not 
at  all  unlikely  that  the  boat  would  be  attacked  by  the 
Indians.  But,  if  my  memory  serves  me  aright,  we  did 
not  see  an  Indian  either  going  up  or  coming  down  the 
river.  Our  pilot,  Nick  Buesen,  was  another  unusually 
capable  man  and  well  worthy  of  mention."     *     *     * 

On  the  day  that  the  Key  West  re-entered  the  Missouri, 
before  the  escort  disembarked  at  Fort  Buford,  all  the  army 
oflScers  on  board  signed  an  engrossed  letter  of  commenda- 
tion which  they  presented  to  Captain  Marsh,  and  which 
he  has  treasured  ever  since.     The  text  of  this  letter  is  as 

follows : 

Steamer  "Key  West," 

May  15th,  1873. 

The  thanks  of  the  undersigned  officers  of  the  Army  are  due, 
and  are  hereby  tendered,  to  Captain  Grant  Marsh  and  the 
officers  under  his  command,  for  the  abiHty  and  energy  which 
have  characterized  them  during  the  trip  of  the  Steamer  Key 
West  from  Fort  Buford,  D.  T.,  to  Powder  River,  Montana. 

(Signed) 

R.  T.  Jacob,  Jr., 

2nd  Lieut.,  6th  Infantry. 
Geo.  B.  Walker, 

2nd  Lieut.,  6th  Infantry. 

D.    H.    MURDOCK, 

Captain,  6th  Infantry. 
169 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


JosiAH  Chance, 

2nd  Lieut.,  17th  Infantry. 
Thos.  G.  Townsend, 

2nd  Lieut.,  6th  Infantry. 
Geo.  a.  Forsyth, 

Major  &  Bvt.  Brig.  Gen.,  U.  S.  A. 
M.  Bryant, 

Capt.,  6th  Infy.,  Bvt.  Maj.,  U.  S.  A. 
E.  R.  Ames, 

Captain,  6th  Infantry. 
Fred  W.  Thibaut, 

1st  Lieut,  6th  Infantry. 

After  quitting  the  Yellowstone  and  disembarking  her 
escort,  the  Key  West  proceeded  at  once  to  Yankton.  At 
Buford  and  the  other  posts  along  the  river  she  was  re- 
ceived with  enthusiasm,  for  the  feat  she  had  accomplished 
was  regarded  as  a  remarkable  one.  From  Yankton, 
General  Forsyth  made  a  full  report  of  the  expedition  to 
General  Sheridan,  in  Chicago.  The  latter  was  much 
gratified  at  its  success  and  requested  General  Forsyth 
to  convey  his  thanks  to  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Key 
West. 


170 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

CAMPAIGNING   WITH   THE   SEVENTH   CAVALRY 

Now,  the  boys  in  blue,  you  bet. 

Earn  whatever  praise  they  get; 
But  they're  not  the  only  ones  who  never  lag. 

For  the  good  old  Yankee  horses 

They  are  always  with  the  forces 
When  the  battle-smoke  is  curling  round  the  flagi 

WHEN  the  Key  West,  downward-bound,  passed 
Bismarck  the  surveyors  of  the  Northern  Pa- 
cific were  already  assembled  there,  ;t\'aiting  to 
start  westward,  while  across  the  river,  at  Forts  Lincoln  and 
Rice,  General  Alfred  H.  Terry,  commanding  the  Depart- 
ment of  Dakota,  was  making  ready  the  military  column 
which  was  to  accompany  them  to  the  Yellowstone.  The 
hostiles  were  known  to  be  in  large  force  somewhere  in  the 
wilds  of  the  Big  Horn  or  Yellowstone  valleys,  and  it  was 
General  Sheridan's  desire  that  the  escort  to  be  sent  with 
the  surveyors  should  be  strong  enough  to  deal  the  Indians 
a  crushing  blow  if  they  could  be  brought  to  battle.  He 
therefore  instructed  Terry  to  mobilize  at  Rice  and  Lincoln 
as  much  of  the  infantry  of  his  Department  as  could  be 
spared,  and  to  General  Custer,  in  cantonment  at  Yankton, 
he  sent  orders  to  hasten  the  march  of  the  7th  Cavalry  up 
the  Missouri  and  report  to  General  Terry  at  the  earliest 
possible   moment.     Captain    Marsh    was    instructed    by 

171 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Sheridan  to  place  his  vessel  at  the  disposal  of  General 
Custer. 

The  Key  West  had  arrived  at  the  territorial  capital 
while  the  town  was  passing  through  the  turmoil  incident 
to  the  departure  of  the  cavalry.  General  Custer  ordered 
Captain  Marsh  to  take  on  board  the  women  and  children 
of  the  regiment  and  the  personal  baggage  of  the  oflBcers, 
such  room  as  remained  after  these  had  been  accommo- 
dated being  used  for  some  of  the  supplies  destined  for 
use  during  the  coming  campaign.  The  greater  part  of 
the  latter,  however,  were  conveyed  north  on  the  steamers 
Far  West,  Captain  Mart  Coulson,  and  Peninah,  Captain 
Abner  Shaw,  which  were  chartered  by  the  Government 
for  the  purpose. 

The  voyage  fram  Yankton  to  the  forts,  which  occupied 
several  weeks,  was  without  incident;  so  much  so,  indeed, 
that  it  proved  extremely  monotonous  to  the  women  on 
board,  among  whom  were  included  most  of  the  feminine 
element  of  the  regiment,  the  wives  of  officers  and  enlisted 
men  and  laundresses.  Mrs.  Custer  and  Mrs.  Calhoun, 
General  Custer's  sister,  had  gone  with  the  column,  travel- 
ing in  an  ambulance.  The  regiment,  in  order  to  have  as 
good  a  road  as  might  be,  marched  along  the  upland  prai- 
ries, avoiding  the  river  bottom,  and  though  now  and  then 
the  river  wound  close  enough  to  the  bluffs  to  permit  of  the 
troops  bivouacking  near  the  boat,  this  happened  but  sel- 
dom and  the  women  were  generally  obliged  to  pass  several 
days  at  a  time  without  seeing  or  hearing  from  their  hus- 
bands.    Captain  Marsh  did  all  he  could  for  the  entertain- 

172 


Campaigning  with  the  Seventh  Cavalry 

ment  and  comfort  of  his  passengers,  but  his  resources  were 
limited,  and  about  the  only  advantage  the  people  on  the 
boat  enjoyed  over  those  with  the  column  was  in  the  fact 
that  they  were  protected  from  the  violent  storms  of  early 
summer. 

After  the  arrival  of  the  Seventh  at  Fort  Rice,  only  a  few 
days  were  spent  there,  then  the  farewells  were  said  to  the 
families  left  behind,  and  on  the  20th  of  June  the  column 
moved  out  on  its  long  march  into  the  uninhabited  wilder- 
ness. The  force  consisted  of  the  entire  7th  Cavalry  with 
the  exception  of  two  troops,  headquarters  and  five  com- 
panies of  the  22nd  Infantry,  six  companies  of  the  9th 
Infantry,  four  of  the  8th  Infantry,  two  of  the  6th  In- 
fantry, three  of  the  17th  Infantry,  and  a  detachment  of 
Arikaree    Indian    scouts.*     General    David    S.    Stanley, 

*  "The  Army  of  the  United  States."  In  his  article  on  "The  Yellow- 
stone Expedition  of  1873,"  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  U.  S.  Cavalry 
Association,  October,  1905,  Lieutenant  Charles  Braden,  U.  S.  A.,  re- 
tired, is  made  to  add  to  tlie  above  enumerated  list  of  companies,  "several 
of  the  7th  Infantry."  In  writing  to  the  author  on  the  subject,  however. 
Lieutenant  Braden  says  of  his  article  in  the  Journal  of  the  U.  S.  Cav- 
alry Association: 

"My  article,  as  written,  did  not  mention  any  part  of  the  Seventh 
Infantry  as  forming  a  portion  of  the  command.  The  error  is  the  printer's. 
The  article  as  published  was,  much  to  my  displeasure,  printed  without 
any  proofreading.  The  proof  sheets  were  sent  to  me.  I  marked  a 
number  of  errors  and  revised  some  of  the  text.  The  Secretary  of  the 
Association  did  not  wait  for  the  return  to  him  of  the  proofs,  but  printed 
the  article  with  all  of  its  errors.  I  wish  you  would  add  the  above  to  your 
notes,  so  as  to  place  me  in  a  proper  light." 

The  7th  Infantry,  at  the  time  of  the  Stanley  Expedition,  was  garrison- 
ing some  of  the  posts  of  western  Montana.  The  facts  concerning  the 
events  of  the  expedition  which  appear  in  the  text,  aside  from  those  in 
which  the  steamboats  were  concerned,  are  mainly  gathered  from  Lieu- 
tenant Braden's  published  articles  and  letters  to  the  author,  and  from 
the  regimental  sketches  embraced  in  "  The  Army  of  the  United  States." 
—J.  M.  H. 

173 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


colonel  of  the  22nd  Infantry,  was  placed  by  General  Terry 
in  command  of  the  column,  which  aggregated  eighty 
officers  and  1,451  enlisted  men.*  A  large  wagon-train 
accompanied  the  troops  for  carrying  the  supplies  necessary 
for  the  overland  march. 

As  soon  as  the  expedition  left  Fort  Rice,  the  three  steam- 
boats started  for  the  Yellowstone  and  the  mouth  of  Glen- 
dive  Creek,  where  General  Forsyth  had  recommended  that 
the  supply  depot  be  established.  As  had  been  expected, 
the  water  was  high  and  the  obstacles  which  had  been  en- 
countered in  May  gave  no  trouble,  so  that  the  boats  reached 
their  objective  point  some  time  before  the  column  made  its 
appearance.  At  Glendive  the  Peninah  and  Far  West 
unloaded  their  cargoes,  were  discharged  by  the  quarter- 
master and  returned  to  the  lower  river.  The  Key  West, 
with  Captain  Marsh  in  charge,  was  retained  to  act  as  a 
transport  or  patrol  boat  as  occasion  might  require.  At 
Fort  Buford  on  the  way  up,  a  company  of  the  6th  Infantry 
under  Captain  Hawkins  had  been  taken  on  as  escort,  and 
these  men  remained  with  the  boat  throughout  the  cam- 
paign. While  waiting  for  Stanley  to  arrive,  they  com- 
menced the  erection  of  a  stockade  at  the  landing  place. 

The  main  column,  in  the  meantime,  had  been  seriously 
delayed  by  heavy  rains,  which  softened  the  ground  and 
hindered  the  long  wagon-train.  In  1872  a  similar  but 
smaller  expedition  under  General  Stanley  had  marched 
from  Fort  Rice  to  the  mouth  of  the  Powder  in  twenty-four 
days;  in  1873  forty-one  days  were  consumed  in  reaching 
*  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  1873-1874. 

174 


Campaigning  with  the  Seventh  Cavalry 

Glendive  Creek,  though  the  distance  was  less.  Before  the 
journey  was  half  completed  many  of  the  wagons  were 
emptied  and  sent  back  to  Fort  Lincoln  for  additional  sup- 
plies. The  troops  traversed  practically  the  same  route  as 
that  followed  by  General  Sully  in  1864,  but  under  much 
more  favorable  circumstances.  No  Indians  were  encoun- 
tered to  harass  them  and  while  the  spring  rains  delayed 
the  train,  they  assured,  on  the  other  hand,  an  abundance 
of  forage  for  the  animals.  The  march,  indeed,  partook 
much  of  the  character  of  a  holiday  excursion.  General 
Custer,  who  possessed  a  reputation  as  a  royal  entertainer, 
seldom  set  out  on  an  expedition  unaccompanied  by  several 
guests,  and  the  present  occasion  was  no  exception  to  the 
rule.  He  had  with  him  R.  Graham  Frost,  of  St.  Louis, 
the  son  of  the  distinguished  Confederate  general,  D.  M. 
Frost,  and  also  Lord  Clifford  and  another  British  noble- 
man. 

The  engineer  in  charge  of  the  railroad  surveyors  was 
likewise  an  intimate  friend  of  General  Custer.  This  was 
General  T.  L.  Rosser,  who  had  been  Custer's  classmate 
and  roommate  at  West  Point.  When  the  Civil  War 
broke  out,  Rosser  resigned  from  the  Academy  and  ac- 
cepted a  commission  in  the  Confederate  service.  He  rose 
rapidly  to  prominence  as  a  brilliant  cavalry  leader,  dis- 
playing in  the  field  many  of  the  same  fearless  and  dashing 
qualities  which  distinguished  Custer.  Several  times  the 
fortunes  of  war  caused  the  two  friends  to  be  pitted  against 
each  other  in  battle,  but  even  the  passion  of  conflict  never 
chilled  the  warm  personal  regard  which  they  held  for  each 

175 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


other.  They  had  not  met  since  the  close  of  the  Rebellion, 
but  when  thrown  together  on  the  far  Northwestern  frontier 
their  delight  was  sincere,  and  throughout  the  campaign 
they  spent  as  much  time  as  possible  in  one  another's 
company. 

General  Custer,  who  was  an  indefatigable  sportsman, 
had  with  him,  as  usual,  a  fine  pack  of  hounds;  the  22nd 
Infantry  had  a  regimental  pack  and  the  English  noblemen 
also  had  a  pack.  There  was  no  dearth  of  pedigreed  dogs 
in  camp,  and  ample  opportunity  for  using  them  was  found 
during  the  march  to  the  Yellowstone,  for  the  country 
teemed  with  antelope,  deer,  wolves,  and  other  game. 
After  the  column  reached  Glendive,  Lord  Clifford  told 
Captain  Marsh  an  amusing  story  concerning  the  dogs. 
In  the  22nd  Infantry  was  a  young  lieutenant  named  W. 
W.  Daugherty,  who,  in  the  previous  year,  had  been  pre- 
sented with  a  deer-hound  pup  of  exceedingly  hazy  and 
uncertain  lineage.  But  the  lieutenant  was  much  attached 
to  his  lowly  four-footed  friend  and  avowed  great  confidence 
in  his  hunting  qualities.  As  the  dog  had  been  given  to 
him,  Daugherty  whimsically  named  him  "  Given."  Shortly 
after  the  expedition  left  Fort  Rice,  the  officers,  eager  to 
try  their  animals  on  the  first  available  game,  started  two 
hapless  jack-rabbits  from  their  coverts  on  the  open  prairie. 
Instantly  the  hounds  were  released,  and  put  out  in  a  fran- 
tic mob  after  the  bounding  fugitives.  Amid  the  commis- 
erating smiles  of  his  brother  officers.  Lieutenant  Daugherty 
unleashed  the  plebian  Given  and  sent  him  to  join  the  chase, 
though  no  one  but  himself  imagined  that  the  dog  could 

176 


Campaigning  with  the  Seventh  Cavalry 


even  remain  within  barking  distance  of  his  blooded  com- 
petitors. But  Given  took  the  trail  with  an  earnestness 
and  speed  astonishing  to  all  beholders.  After  being 
started,  the  jack-rabbits  had  parted  in  their  flight.  Given 
went  through  the  pack  like  a  torpedo-boat  through  a  fleet 
at  anchor,  caught  and  killed  one  of  the  rabbits  which  was 
loping  away  in  front,  and  then,  turning,  overtook  and  dis- 
posed of  the  other  before  the  rest  of  the  hounds  could  reach 
him.  After  this  performance  of  his  pet,  no  one  smiled 
commiserating ly  at  Daugherty.  Given 's  speed  and  en- 
durance became  the  wonder  of  the  camp. 

One  diflSculty  met  with  in  running  the  dogs  arose  from 
the  quantities  of  prickly  pears  which  grew  all  over  the 
country.  The  small,  keen  thorns  of  these  plants  pene- 
trated the  feet  of  the  hounds  and  soon  lamed  them.  Then 
some  ingenious  sportsman  thought  of  the  expedient  of 
having  the  dogs  shod  with  leather.  It  worked  admirably, 
and  after  finding  that  their  feet  were  safe,  the  animals  paid 
no  more  attention  to  the  thorns,  but  ran  as  well  as  they 
would  have  done  on  bare  ground.  After  the  column  had 
reached  a  region  where  antelope  were  plentiful,  some  of 
the  best  hounds  were  picked  out  to  run  these  nimble- 
footed  animals,  though  the  oflScers  had  no  hope  that  any 
could  be  caught  unless  previously  wounded.  But  one  day 
in  a  fair,  straightaway  chase  on  the  open  prairie  Given 
overtook  and  brought  down  an  unwounded  antelope,  a 
feat  which  Lord  Clifford,  who  was  well  versed  in  the  an- 
nals of  sportsmanship,  declared  to  Captain  Marsh  was  un- 
precedented.    The  remarkable  nature  of  the  exploit  was 

177 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


emphasized  a  few  days  later,  when  the  pack  came  sud- 
denly upon  four  antelope  at  graze  in  a  swale  of  the  prairie. 
The  dogs  were  among  them  before  they  could  start  to  run, 
yet  every  one  escaped,  leaping  over  their  pursuers  and 
scurrying  quickly  beyond  reach. 

The  Key  West  had  been  lying  twelve  days  at  Glendive, 
when  early  one  afternoon,  General  Custer  suddenly  ap- 
peared, riding  down  the  valley  of  the  creek,  accompanied 
by  a  single  troop  of  his  regiment.  After  cordial  greetings, 
he  informed  Captain  Marsh  that  the  scouts  had  located  a 
more  convenient  camping-place  twenty  miles  up  river  and 
that  the  main  column  was  heading  for  that  point.  He 
therefore  instructed  the  boat  to  proceed  there  also,  and 
came  on  board  with  his  men  for  the  short  trip.  The  Key 
West  reached  her  destination  about  dusk.  The  main 
column  had  not  yet  arrived,  but  late  that  night  the  7th 
Cavalry  band  came  into  the  valley  ahead  of  the  troops 
and  going  aboard  the  boat,  serenaded  the  crew.  Never 
before  had  the  air  of  the  lonely  Yellowstone  Valley  echoed 
to  any  music  save  the  rude  beat  of  Indian  tom-toms,  and 
the  sweet  strains  of  this  splendid  military  band,  on  such 
a  silent,  moonlit  night  and  in  such  surroundings,  made  a 
weirdly  solemn  impression  on  the  listeners  which  time 
could  never  efface.  Early  the  next  morning,  July  31st, 
the  remainder  of  the  expedition  came  up. 

The  troops  now  went  into  camp  for  several  days  to  rest 
and  replenish  the  train.  In  the  meanwhile  the  Key  West 
was  busy  bringing  up  supplies  from  Glendive  for  the  col- 
umn to  take  on  the  next  and  most  difficult  stage  of  its 

178 


Cam'paigning  with  the  Seventh  Cavalry 

advance.  At  the  new  camping  place  the  soldiers  con- 
structed a  fortification  which  was  named  Stanley's  Stock- 
ade, for  protecting  the  stores  which  were  to  be  left  behind. 
After  he  had  brought  up  all  the  goods  from  Glendive, 
Captain  Marsh  v/as  instructed  to  take  a  party  of  surveyors 
about  fifty  miles  further  up  the  river,  where  they  sur^'eyed 
a  section  of  the  valley.  On  returning  from  this  duty,  he 
found  the  troops  and  General  Rosser's  men  ready  and 
waiting  to  be  ferried  across  the  Yellowstone,  the  former 
to  engage  in  their  active  Indian  campaign  and  the  latter 
to  prosecute  their  railroad  work.  Though  the  Northern 
Pacific  was  eventually  built  along  the  south  bank  of  the 
Yellowstone,  these  early  preliminary  surveys,  so  costly  in 
life  and  labor  and  money,  were  run  along  the  north  bank 
and  proved  futile  after  all. 

Just  before  the  troops  moved  a  stir  was  caused  among 
them  by  the  arrival  of  a  Catholic  priest.  Father  Stephen, 
who  had  come  alone  all  the  way  from  Fort  Rice  over  the 
route  previously  followed  by  the  column.  Driving  a  sin- 
gle horse  attached  to  an  old  buggy,  over  the  top  of  which 
he  had  erected  a  large  cross,  this  devoted  man,  utterly 
unarmed  and  defenseless,  had  ventured  upon  a  journey 
which  the  most  hardy  frontiersmen  would  have  hesitated 
to  undertake.  Eager  to  reach  the  army  in  Montana,  to 
whose  spiritual  needs  he  felt  called  to  minister,  he  had 
traveled  across  the  desolate  bad-lands,  regardless  of  the 
dangers  of  swollen  streams,  prowling  wild  animals  and 
skulking  Indians  with  which  his  pathway  was  beset.  With 
the  sublime  courage  which  has  characterized  the  mis- 

179 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


sionaries  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  throughout  the 
history  of  the  North  American  Continent,  he  had  not  hesi- 
tated to  jeopardize  his  hfe  for  the  sake  of  the  object  he 
wished  to  attain.  His  faith  was  not  misplaced,  for  he 
came  through  safely  and  his  courage  made  him  an  object 
of  such  respect  to  the  soldiers  that  the  work  he  was  able 
to  do  among  them  must  have  been  gratifying  to  him.  He 
accompanied  them  on  their  westward  march  and  was  pres- 
ent to  give  Christian  burial  to  those  who  fell  in  action. 

The  passage  of  the  Yellowstone  was  accomplished 
quickly  with  the  aid  of  the  boat,  and  the  expedition  at 
once  departed,  leaving  only  one  company  of  the  17th 
Infantry  and  two  troops  of  the  7th  Cavalry,  to  guard  the 
stockade.  Shortly  after  it  had  gone,  a  mail  came  into  the 
stockade  from  Fort  Rice  containing  letters  and  papers  for 
all  the  command.  Captain  Marsh  took  it  on  board  the 
Key  West  and  hastened  up  the  river,  hoping  to  overtake 
them.  He  did  so  opposite  the  mouth  of  Powder  River, 
much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  soldiers,  who  were  thus 
enabled  to  hear  again  from  the  friends  and  dear  ones  left 
behind,  which  they  could  not  otherwise  have  done  for  a 
numl^er  of  weeks.  The  Key  West  did  not  go  above  the 
Powder,  but  after  delivering  the  mail  returned  to  Stan- 
ley's Stockade. 

As  General  Stanley  moved  forward,  signs  of  Indians 
were  not  at  first  noticeable.  But  it  was  felt  that  some- 
where ahead  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  mysterious  hills, 
stealthy  tribesmen  must  be  watching  and  gathering.  The 
march  was  conducted  with  every  precaution.     A  strong 

180 


Campaigning  with  the  Seventh  Cavalry 

advance  guard  of  cavalry  scouted  in  front,  the  infantry 
marched  ahead  and  in  the  rear  of  the  wagon-train,  while 
on  both  flanks  of  it  was  the  remainder  of  the  cavalry,  ex- 
cept such  as  was  daily  detailed  for  immediate  escort  to  the 
surveyors.  The  latter  were  running  their  line  along  the 
river  bank,  while  the  wagons  followed  the  top  of  the  bluffs 
where  traveling  was  easier.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  4th 
of  August,  a  day  when  the  thermometer  was  standing  at 
110°  in  the  shade.  Doctor  Honzinger,  the  veterinary  sur- 
geon of  the  7th  Cavalry,  and  Mr.  Baliran,  the  regimental 
sutler,  together  with  two  troopers,  straggled  from  the 
column  in  search  of  water.  They  found  a  spring,  and  were 
resting  beside  it  when,  without  warning,  a  party  of  Indians 
rose  up  before  them  and  fired  pointblank  into  their  faces. 
Three  of  them  fell  dead,  but  the  surviving  trooper  escaped 
to  the  train,  and  several  troops  of  cavalry  at  once  made 
chase  up  the  valley  after  the  fleeing  hostiles,  who  were  led, 
as  was  afterward  learned,  by  Rain-in-the-Face,  a  young 
Ogalalla  chief.  To  the  surprise  of  the  pursuers  after  they 
had  ridden  a  few  miles,  they  came  upon  General  Custer 
and  the  advance  guard,  surrounded  by  several  hundred 
Indians  in  a  strip  of  timber  near  the  river.  Their  timely 
arrival  raised  the  siege  and  the  enemy  retreated. 

This  day's  attack  was  the  first  intimation  the  expedition 
had  of  the  proximity  of  the  Indians,  but  thereafter  the  evi- 
dences of  their  presence  became  plentiful.  The  sites  of 
large  camps  recently  abandoned  by  them  were  passed 
daily,  while  their  scouts  constantly  observed  the  progress 
of  the  column  from  distant  hilltops.     Sometimes  the  re- 

181 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


treating  travois  trains  bearing  their  families  and  camp 
equipage  could  be  seen  on  the  horizon,  and  on  August  8th 
General  Stanley  instructed  Custer  to  take  all  the  mounted 
troops,  including  the  Arikaree  scouts,  and  by  a  forced 
march  endeavor  to  overtake  and  destroy  the  villages. 

Custer  started  with  his  command  in  light  marching 
order,  but  after  pursuing  the  enemy  all  the  next  day,  he 
arrived  at  a  point  on  the  Yellowstone  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Big  Horn  River,  where  he  was  disappointed  to  find 
that  they  had  crossed  all  their  belongings  in  bull-boats 
and  escaped  to  the  south  bank.  He  spent  the  following 
day  seeking  a  ford,  but  without  success.  That  night,  war 
parties  of  the  Indians  recrossed  the  Yellowstone  above 
and  below  his  position,  and  at  sunrise  furiously  attacked 
the  cavalry  as  it  lay  in  bivouac  on  the  river  bank.  The 
first  attack  came  from  a  strip  of  timber  across  the  river, 
but  directly  west  of  the  bivouac  was  a  high  bluflF,  which,  if 
gained  by  the  Indians,  would  make  the  position  untenable. 
Lieutenant  Charles  Braden,  with  half  of  his  troop,  L, 
hurried  forward  to  occupy  the  crest  of  the  bluff.  He  and 
the  Indians  reached  it  at  the  same  moment,  and  a  struggle 
almost  hand-to-hand  ensued  for  its  possession.  The  In- 
dians were  at  last  driven  back,  but  with  most  unusual 
tenacity  made  several  charges,  all  of  which  were  repulsed, 
though  Lieutenant  Braden  received  a  terrible  wound  which 
crippled  him  for  life.  Shortly  afterward,  a  general  ad- 
vance was  ordered  by  Custer,  and  the  enemy  was  scattered 
in  every  direction.  The  Indians  had  suffered  heavily  in 
the  engagement,  while  the  cavalry  lost  four  men  killed 

182 


a 


Campaigning  with  the  Seventh  Cavalry 


and  one  officer  and  three  men  wounded.  Although  routed 
on  the  field,  the  enemy  continued  to  hold  the  strip  of  timber 
across  the  river  from  which  they  fired  during  the  day,  and 
were  only  driven  out  at  last  by  shells  from  the  two  field- 
pieces  under  Lieutenant  Webster,  22nd  Infantry,  which 
came  up  toward  evening  with  General  Stanley  and  the 
main  column. 

Their  severe  handling  in  this  affair  demoralized  the 
savages  and  they  gave  the  troops  no  more  trouble,  save 
for  a  slight  skirmish  a  few  days  later  near  Pompey's  Pillar. 
This  point  marked  the  end  of  the  westward  march,  for 
here  the  line  of  the  surveyors  connected  with  that  run 
eastward  from  Bozeman  in  the  two  previous  years.  The 
column  turned  north  and  crossed  the  high  plateau  into  the 
valley  of  the  Musselshell.  This  it  followed  for  a  distance, 
then  went  along  Great  Porcupine  Creek  to  the  Yellow- 
stone, and  marched  down  the  bank  of  the  latter  stream 
until  the  starting-point,  opposite  Stanley's  Stockade,  was 
again  reached  on  September  10th, 

During  the  absence  of  the  troops,  the  Key  West  had 
spent  most  of  her  time  in  the  vicinity  of  the  stockade,  occa- 
sionally making  short  trips  up  and  down  river  for  the  pur- 
pose of  examining  the  channels  and  chutes  more  carefully 
than  had  hitherto  been  possible."  About  the  middle  of 
August,  while  on  one  of  these  brief  voyages  down  toward 
Glendive  Creek,  she  encountered  the  steamer  Josephine, 
Captain  John  Todd,  coming  up.  This  boat  had  long  been 
expected  by  Captain  Marsh,  who  at  once  transferred  to 
her  from  the  Key  West,  the  latter  being  taken  down  to  the 

183 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Missouri  by  Captain  Todd,  while  the  Josephine  pro- 
ceeded to  the  stockade. 

The  new  boat,  which  was  an  addition  to  the  fleet  of  the 
Coulson  Packet  Company,  had  been  built  under  instruc- 
tions from  Captain  Marsh  and  for  his  own  use.  She  had 
come  from  the  marine  ways  at  Freedom,  Pa.,  whither 
Captain  Todd  had  gone  to  hasten  her  completion  and  to 
bring  her  up  to  the  Yellowstone,  where  she  was  seriously 
needed,  as  the  river  was  falling.*  She  was  of  very  light 
draught,  having  been  designed  for  use  on  those  waters, 
and  was  better  adapted  to  such  work  than  the  Key  West. 
Captain  Marsh  had  named  her  after  Josephine,  the  little 
daughter  of  General  Stanley,  whose  home  was  then  at 
Fort  Sully,  the  headquarters  of  the  22nd  Infantry. 

When,  three  weeks  after  the  arrival  of  the  new  boat,  the 
returning  expedition  at  last  made  its  appearance  on  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  Yellowstone,  the  troops  were  worn 
down  by  hard  campaigning,  for  their  march  had  been 
an  arduous  one.  With  them  they  brought  Lieutenant 
Braden  who,  contrary  to  the  expectations  of  his  comrades, 
had  survived  his  desperate  wound.  Since  the  fight  near 
the  Big  Horn,  it  had  been  a  diflScult  matter  to  bring  him 
through  all  that  long  and  torturing  journey  of  400  miles 
across  the  hill  country.  His  injury  had  been  caused  by  a 
rifle  ball  which  passed  through  his  left  leg,  shattering  the 

*  The  contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana  place  the 
Josephine  in  the  list  of  steamboat  arrivals  at  the  Fort  Benton  levee  during 
the  season  of  1873.  This  is  an  error.  Under  orders  from  Captain 
Marsh  she  went  direct  from  Freedom,  Pa.,  to  the  Yellowstone  for 
Government  contract  service  with  the  army  in  the  field. — J.  M.  H. 

184 


Campaigning  with  the  Seventh  Cavalry 

bone  from  hip  to  knee.  The  command  was  provided  with 
few  surgical  appHances  and,  lacking  splints  or  plaster  band- 
ages, the  officer's  injured  limb  was  placed  in  a  wooden 
trough,  made  by  a  blacksmith  and  a  carpenter.  The  next 
problem  was  to  carry  him.  The  jolting  of  the  ambulance 
nearly  killed  him,  while  hand  and  mule  litters  proved 
nearly  as  bad.  At  last  the  ingenious  wagon-master  rigged 
up  a  litter  slung  on  poles  thirty  feet  long,  the  ends  of  which 
were  fastened  to  the  running-gear  of  an  ambulance.  The 
contrivance  was  hauled  by  men,  and  an  officer,  three  non- 
commissioned officers,  and  thirty  troopers  were  detailed 
to  handle  it.  In  it  the  heroic  Braden  traveled  for  thirty 
days,  and  as  soon  as  the  column  reached  the  river  bank, 
he  was  taken  on  board  the  Josephine  and  tenderly  placed 
in  one  of  her  comfortable  cabins,  as  were  the  several 
wounded  soldiers  who  had  suffered  with  him. 

After  this  work  of  humanity  had  been  done,  the  boat 
ferried  the  cavalry  and  some  of  the  infantry  to  the  east 
bank,  whence  they  marched  for  Fort  Rice,  arriving  there 
September  22nd.  The  battalions  of  the  8th  and  9th 
Infantry  were  taken  on  board  and  conveyed  to  Sioux  City, 
en  route  to  distant  stations.  At  Fort  Buford,  Captain 
Marsh  found  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  William  H.  • 
Seward,  anxiously  awaiting  his  arrival.  Seward  was  clerk 
to  the  Department  Paymaster,  Major  William  Smith,  and, 
in  the  absence  of  his  superior,  was  paying  off  the  troops  at 
the  river  posts.  Shortly  before  the  arrival  of  the  Jose- 
phine, he  had  received  word  from  the  East  that  his  wife 
had  given  birth  to  a  daughter  and  he  was  naturally  very 

185 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


desirous  of  reaching  home.  But  he  still  had  to  pay  off 
the  troops  at  one  more  post.  Fort  Stevenson.  On  the  way 
down  from  Buford  he  confided  the  situation  to  Captain 
Marsh.  The  Josephine  was  under  Government  charter 
and  the  captain  was  supposed  to  take  her  through  to  her 
journey's  end  without  any  unnecessary  delays,  yet  if 
Seward  were  set  ashore  at  Stevenson  and  left  there  by  the 
boat  he  would  have  no  means  of  reaching  Bismarck  and 
the  railroad  for  a  long  time,  and  might  even  be  compelled 
to  remain  at  the  fort  all  winter,  since  no  more  boats  were 
expected  there  that  year. 

Captain  Marsh  did  not  wish  the  young  paymaster's 
clerk  to  suffer  such  a  misfortune,  which  would  seem  all 
the  harder  from  the  fact  that  Seward's  actual  business  at 
Fort  Stevenson  would  only  occupy  him  for  about  half  a 
day.  So  just  before  the  Josephine  reached  the  fort,  the 
captain  went  down  to  the  main  deck  and  inquired  of 
First  Engineer  Charlie  Echols : 

"Charlie,  don't  you  think  the  engine  valves  ought  to  be 
ground?" 

Echols  intently  scrutinized  the  face  of  his  chief. 

"Well,  I  don't  know  but  they  had,  captain,"  he  replied, 
with  a  grin. 

"Take  you  about  half  a  day,  won't  it,  Charlie?" 

Again  the  engineer  looked  at  him  closely. 

"Yes,"  he  answered,  "I  reckon  it  will;  about  half  a 
day." 

"All  right,"  said  Captain  Marsh,  "we'll  do  it  at  Fort 
Stevenson." 

186 


Campaigning  with  the  Seventh  Cavalry 

Echols  put  in  the  time  industriously,  though  just  what 
results  he  accomplished  are  not  matters  of  record.  But 
at  almost  the  moment  when  Seward  finally  appeared  on 
the  bank,  hurrying  down  to  the  landing,  the  work  on  the 
valves  came  to  an  abrupt  termination,  the  stage  was 
hauled  in  and  the  vessel  resumed  her  journey.  Seward 
left  the  boat  at  Bismarck  and  caught  the  first  train  for  the 
East.  Nearly  eight  years  passed  before  the  captain  saw 
him  again.  Then  he  came  to  Bismarck,  accompanied  by 
his  wife  and  eight-year-old  daughter,  for  no  purpose  save 
to  pay  the  captain  a  visit.  They  had  been  in  Minneapo- 
lis and  Mrs.  Seward  had  insisted  on  making  the  journey 
in  order  that  she  might  meet  and  personally  thank  the 
man  who  had  once  saved  her  a  six  months'  separation 
from  her  husband  at  a  time  when  she  sorely  needed  him 
at  her  side. 

Lieutenant  Braden  was  carried  oflF  the  Josephine  at 
Fort  Lincoln,  where  he  lay  in  the  post  hospital  for  some 
weeks,  and  was  then  taken  by  rail  to  St.  Paul.  He  re- 
mained in  that  city  through  the  winter,  and  in  the  spring 
returned  to  his  home  in  Michigan,  hoping  to  recover 
fully.  But  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  do  so,  and  even- 
tually he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant  and 
then  retired,  on  account  of  "wounds  in  the  line  of  duty." 
Captain  Marsh  greatly  admired  the  young  ofiicer's  cheer- 
ful courage  while  he  was  lying  on  the  Josephine,  making 
no  complaint  over  his  wound  and  submitting  without  a 
murmur  to  the  diet  of  pork  and  beans,  which  was  all  the 
larder  of  the  boat  could  furnish  him.     When  he  was 

187 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


taken  ashore  at  Fort  Lincoln,  his  campaign  hat  was  left 
hanging  on  a  nail  in  the  cabin  he  had  occupied.  Captain 
Marsh  would  not  allow  it  to  be  removed,  and  as  long  as  he 
continued  to  command  the  boat  Brad  en's  hat  remained 
where  he  had  placed  it,  a  memento  of  the  foititude  of  one 
American  soldier. 


188 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

PIONEER   PATHS 

Far  the  stirring  note  of  the  bugle's  throat 

Ye  may  hark  to-day  in  vain. 
For  the  track  is  scarred  by  the  gang-plow's  shard. 

And  gulfed  in  the  growing  grain. 

REGARDED  superficially,  the  objects  of  General 
Stanley's  expedition  had  all  been  attained.  The 
railway  survey  had  been  carried  to  completion, 
and  the  Indians  had  been  driven  before  the  military 
advance  and  defeated  in  several  engagements.  But  in 
a  deeper  sense,  the  results  were  far  less  satisfactory.  As 
soon  as  the  troops  retired,  the  country  was  reoccupied 
by  the  hostiles,  whose  bitterness  against  the  Government 
had  been  increased  ten-fold  by  the  invasion.  Those  of 
their  number  who  ventured  into  the  river  agencies  after 
supplies  recited  their  grievances  with  redoubled  vehe- 
mence to  the  reservation  Indians,  and  many  of  these, 
whose  friendship  for  the  whites  was  at  best  but  luke- 
warm, were  converted  to  the  hostile  cause.  How  many 
thus  became  converted  was  not  known  or  even  suspected 
by  the  military  authorities  until  the  battles  of  the  Rose- 
bud and  the  Little  Big  Horn  three  years  later  opened  their 
eyes  to  the  terrible  earnestness  with  which  the  great  Sioux 
Nation  clung  to  its  last  wild  hunting  ground.     The  climax 

189 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


of  the  mighty  drama  of  warfare  for  possession  of  the 
Northwestern  territories,  was  rapidly  drawing  near,  and 
the  Yellowstone  Expedition  of  1873  contributed  not  a 
little  to  its  consummation. 

So  far  as  fighting  was  concerned,  comparative  quiet 
reigned  throughout  the  Sioux  country  during  the  year 
1874.  The  management  of  the  Northern  Pacific  was  not 
yet  ready  either  to  prosecute  its  construction  work  or  to 
elaborate  its  surveys,  and  the  Indians  in  the  disputed 
region  were  not  irritated  by  any  military  movements  there. 
On  their  part  the  red  men  remained  quietly  within  their 
proper  boundaries,  undertaking  no  offensive  movements, 
but  during  the  year  two  events  transpired  which  were  well 
calculated  to  arouse  their  anger. 

The  first  and  least  important  of  these  was  an  expedi- 
tion of  civilians  undertaken  from  Bozeman  in  February, 
March  and  April.  Its  object  was  a  double  one;  to 
prospect  for  gold  and  to  reconnoiter  a  wagon  road  from 
Bozeman  to  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Yellowstone 
and  there  establish  a  town  as  a  base  of  communication 
with  the  terminus  of  the  Northern  Pacific  at  Bismarck. 
Judging  from  the  observations  of  the  Key  West  in  the 
previous  summer,  this  Bozeman  party  concluded  that  the 
head  of  navigation  was  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tongue 
River,  and  toward  this  point  their  expedition  proceeded, 
following  as  usual  the  north  bank  of  the  river.  But  the 
provisions  running  short,  the  eastward  march  was  given 
up  long  before  the  mouth  of  the  Tongue  was  reached, 
and,  crossing  the  Yellowstone,  the  column  moved  up  the 

190 


Pioneer  Paths 


valley  of  the  Big  Horn  River,  exploring  for  gold.  Here 
it  was  severely  and  constantly  harassed  by  the  hostiles, 
though  no  heavy  engagements  occurred,  and  after  swing- 
ing in  a  wide  circle  along  the  base  of  the  Big  Horn  Moun- 
tains, it  returned  to  Bozeman  by  the  old  Montana  Road, 
having  accomplished  practically  nothing,  except  to  in- 
cense the  Indians. 

But  the  event  of  1874  which  most  deeply  stirred  the 
Sioux  was  the  military  expedition  under  General  Custer 
which  visited  the  Black  Hills  in  the  summer  of  that  year. 
This  beautiful  region  of  pine-covered  hills  and  park-like 
valleys,  watered  by  innumerable  crystal  streams,  pos- 
sessing many  thousands  of  acres  of  fertile  agricultural 
land  and  great  stores  of  mineral  wealth,  was  regarded  by 
the  Indians  as  the  chief  jewel  of  their  empire.  Relying 
upon  their  treaty  rights,  they  had  felt  little  apprehension 
of  being  disturbed  in  its  peaceful  possession. 

But  early  in  1874,  General  Sheridan,  actuated  entirely 
by  considerations  of  military  policy,  recommended  to  the 
Government  that  an  army  post  be  established  in  the 
Black  Hills,  which,  lying  near  the  center  of  the  Sioux 
country,  would  greatly  simplify  the  problem  of  keeping 
that  restless  people  in  subjection.  In  pursuance  of  this 
plan  and  quite  regardless  of  the  nice  points  of  treaties, 
Sheridan  ordered  Custer  with  his  regiment  to  march 
from  Fort  Abraham  Lincoln  into  the  Hills  and  thoroughly 
explore  the  region,  for  the  double  purpose  of  ascertaining 
its  natural  resources  and  of  locating  a  favorable  site  for 
a  post. 

191 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


General  Custer  carried  out  his  instructions  promptly 
and  thoroughly.  The  Indians  were  not  aware  of  his  move- 
ments until  he  was  in  the  center  of  the  Black  Hills.  Here, 
scattered  about  in  summer  camps,  he  encountered  a  few 
of  them,  who  fled  at  his  approach,  dismayed  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  an  army  in  the  midst  of  their  quiet  valleys. 
The  General,  whose  oflScial  reports  were  usually  made 
in  forceful  and  picturesque  language,  on  the  completion 
of  his  expedition,  sent  to  his  superiors  a  description  of 
the  country  so  glowing  and  enthusiastic  that,  when  made 
public,  it  precipitated  into  the  Black  Hills  a  rush  of 
homeseekers  and  prospectors  similar  to  that  which  had 
invaded  western  Montana  several  years  before.  The  ag- 
gressors were  promptly  ejected  by  troops,  but  the  mis- 
chief had  been  done.  All  over  the  country  a  popular 
clamor  arose  for  the  Government  to  open  the  Hills  to 
settlement  by  purchase  from  the  Indians,  if  possible, 
but,  if  not,  then  by  forcible  seizure.  The  Sioux,  on  the 
other  hand,  furious  over  the  invasion,  and  feeling  that  no 
promise  of  the  Government,  however  solemnly  pledged, 
was  worth  the  paper  on  which  it  was  written,  became 
ready  to  cast  aside  all  caution  and  sacrifice  their  lives 
in  a  last  despairing  contest  for  their  oft-violated  rights. 
How  deeply,  how  vitally,  this  proud  and  freedom-loving 
people  cherished  the  crumbling  ideals  of  their  old,  wild 
life,  the  Government  could  not  seem  to  realize  until,  in 
the  final  cataclysm,  their  devotion  stood  revealed,  and 
half  a  thousand  white  men  were  blotted  out  by  dying 
savagery  at  bay  before  the  cupidity  of  civilization. 

192 


CHAPTER  XXV 

BOUND    FOR   THE    MOUNTAINS 

Puff-puff!   they  went  by  the  flat  sand-bars, 
Chug-chugl  where  the  currents  spun. 

THE  season  of  1874  Captain  Marsh  spent  quietly, 
operating  the  Josephine  in  regular  commerce 
between  Yankton,  Bismarck,  and  Fort  Benton, 
and  finding  plenty  of  business  though  little  excitement 
in  transporting  Government  stores  and  post  trader's 
goods.  On  one  of  his  first  trips  up  river  in  the  spring  he 
had  as  a  passenger  for  Fort  Lincoln,  a  banker  from  Beu- 
lah,  a  hamlet  in  eastern  Iowa.  The  nature  of  the  business 
which  was  calling  this  gentleman  so  far  from  home  did 
not  at  once  become  apparent.  But  one  day  he,  together 
with  several  other  passengers,  was  in  the  pilot-house 
while  Captain  Marsh  was  on  duty  and  in  the  course  of 
conversation  he  related  the  circumstances  which  had 
caused  him  to  make  the  journey. 

It  seemed  that  during  the  previous  summer,  while  the 
7th  Cavalry  was  out  on  the  Yellowstone,  a  young  man 
had  gone  from  Iowa  to  Fort  Lincoln  and  there  entered 
into  a  contract  to  furnish  hay  for  the  cavalry  horses  dur- 
ing the  coming  winter.  He  purchased  a  number  of  mules 
and  some  machinery,  the  money  thus  expended  having 
been  furnished  to  him  by  the  Beulah  banker,  who  took 

193 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


a  chattel  mortgage  on  the  property  to  insure  his  invest- 
ment. The  contractor  set  to  work  on  the  prairie  mea- 
dows near  the  fort,  but  being  unfamiUar  with  the  ways 
of  the  wily  red  man,  he  permitted  his  mules  to  wander 
at  large  during  the  night,  and  presently  a  marauding 
band  of  Sioux  swept  down  and  ran  off  the  entire  herd. 
The  contractor  possessed  no  money  of  his  own,  and  the 
banker,  who  had  been  obliged  to  stand  the  loss,  was  now 
going  up  to  learn  whether  he  could  recover  anything  on 
his  unfortunate  venture. 

When  he  had  concluded.  Captain  Marsh  asked  him 
whether  he  had  ever  taken  the  matter  up  with  the  military 
authorities. 

"Oh,  yes,"  he  answered,  in  an  injured  tone.  "I  have 
written  to  General  Custer  asking  him  if  he  did  not  think 
that  the  Indians  would  give  those  mules  up  to  me  if  they 
knew  I  held  a  chattel  mortgage  on  them,  since  I  am  not 
connected  with  the  army.  But  he  has  never  replied  to 
my  letter." 

The  story  of  the  Iowa  banker's  artlessness  went  the 
rounds  of  the  frontier  posts,  and  an  echo  of  it  was  heard 
several  years  later.  One  day  when  General  Miles  was 
going  up  the  river  on  Captain  Marsh's  boat,  on  coming 
around  a  bend,  a  fine  looking  horse  was  observed  quietly 
grazing  out  on  the  prairie  and  not  far  from  a  heavy  strip 
of  timber.  The  captain  called  General  Miles'  attention 
to  it,  and  gravely  asked  whether  he  should  land  so  that 
it  might  be  captured,  though  he  well  knew  that  the  animal 
was  a  decoy  put  out  to  draw  them  from  the  boat.     But 

194 


Bound  for  the  Mountains 


the  General  was  not  to  be  trapped.  He  regarded  the  horse 
and  the  strip  of  timber  for  a  moment,  then  turning  a 
quizzical  smile  on  the  captain,  remarked : 

"Yes,  that  certainly  seems  to  be  a  good  horse.  But 
I'm  afraid  there  may  be  some  Indians  around  here  who 
hold  a  chattel  mortgage  on  him,  and  they  might  not 
want  to  give  him  up!" 

The  autumn  of  1874  found  the  captain  again  in  the 
place  he  most  enjoyed,  at  home  in  Yankton  with  his 
family  around  him,  and  here  he  remained  through  the 
winter.  But  the  season  following  was  to  prove  a  more 
eventful  one  for  him.  Shortly  after  New  Year's  Day, 
1875,  General  Sheridan  requested  Commodore  S.  B. 
Coulson,  the  manager  of  the  Coulson  Packet  Company, 
to  come  to  headquarters  in  Chicago  for  a  consultation. 
Upon  the  Commodore's  arrival,  Sheridan  informed  him 
that  he  wished  a  suitable  boat  under  Captain  Marsh  to 
be  sent  to  Bismarck  as  early  as  practicable  in  the  spring 
for  the  purpose  of  conveying  an  exploring  expedition  up 
the  Yellowstone  to  the  head  of  navigation.  It  was  finally 
agreed  that  the  Josephine  should  be  used,  and  upon  the 
opening  of  navigation.  General  Sheridan  issued  the  fol- 
lowing order  to  Lieut.-Col.  James  W.  Forsyth,  Military 
Secretary  on  his  staff: 

"  Headquarters  Military  Division  of  the  Missouri, 
Chicago,  111.,  May  19,  1875. 
Colonel: — 

Pursuant  to  an  agreement  with  Mr.  S.  B.  Coulson,  the  con- 
tractor for  freight  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  the  steamer  Josephine 

195 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


will  be  placed  at  your  disposal  at  Bismarck,  Dakota  Territory, 
for  an  examination  of  the  Yellowstone  River  from  its  mouth  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn,  or  still  further  up,  if  practicable. 

You  will  therefore  proceed  to  Bismarck  without  delay,  accom- 
panied by  Lieut. -Col.  F.  D.  Grant,  of  my  stafiF,  where  the 
steamer  Josephine  will  be  in  readiness  for  you;  and  after  land- 
ing such  freight  as  she  may  carry  for  Forts  Stevenson  and  Buford 
at  these  respective  points,  you  will  take  on  board  from  the  gar- 
rison at  Fort  Buford  a  sufficient  escort  for  the  accomplishment 
of  the  object  in  view.  I  want  a  careful  examination  made  of  the 
south  bank  of  the  Yellowstone  and  the  mouths  and  immediate 
valleys  of  the  rivers  coming  in  from  the  Black  Hills,  and  espe- 
cially those  of  Tongue  River,  Rosebud,  and  Big  Horn,  and  if 
you  go  higher  up  the  Yellowstone,  the  Big  Rosebud,  giving  an 
account  of  the  timber,  soil,  and  geological  formation,  also  the 
depth  of  the  water  in  a  general  way,  and  the  character  of  any 
rapids  passed  over  above  the  mouth  of  Powder  River.  Make 
your  examination  as  complete  as  possible,  without  any  unnec- 
essary detention  of  the  boat,  and  return  from  any  point  when,  in 
your  best  judgment,  there  is  not  sufficient  water,  or  any  other 
obstacles  to  impede  your  progress. 

It  may  be  necessary,  at  some  time  in  the  immediate  future,  to 
occupy  by  a  military  force  the  country  in  and  about  the  mouths 
of  Tongue  River  and  the  Big  Horn.  You  will,  therefore,  make 
especial  examination  of  these  points  with  this  view. 


Yours  truly, 

P.  H.  Sheridan, 


Lieutenant-General. 


Lieut.-Col.  J.  W.  FoRSTTH, 

Military  Secretary. 


Like  the  other  oflEicer  of  the  same  surname  who  had 
ascended  the  Yellowstone  two  years  earlier,  James  W. 
Forsyth  was  the  possessor  of  a  brilliant  Civil  War  record. 
He  had  received  several  brevet  commissions  for  "gallant 

196 


Bound  jor  the  Mountains 


and  meritorious  services,"  first  at  Chickamauga,  then 
at  Cedar  Creek,  then  at  Opequan,  Fisher's  Hill,  and 
Middletown,  and  last  at  Five  Forks,  while  the  grade  of 
brigadier-general,  with  which  he  had  been  retired  from 
the  volunteer  army,  was  conferred  upon  him  specifically 
"for  gallant  and  meritorious  services"  during  the  war, 
an  honor  accorded  to  but  few  oflScers.*  He  was  a  gen- 
tleman of  noble  character  and  unfailing  courtesy,  with 
whom  it  was  a  constant  pleasure  to  associate,  and  a 
soldier  of  high  professional  attainments,  beloved  by  his 
subordinates  and  respected  and  trusted  by  his  superiors. 
The  command  of  such  an  expedition  as  he  was  to  un- 
dertake could  not  have  been  placed  in  more  competent 
hands. 

The  Josephine  left  Yankton  early  in  May  with  Grant 
Marsh  as  master  and  pilot;  Joe  Todd,  pilot  and  clerk; 
Andrew  Larson,  mate;  Monroe  Marsh  and  George 
Britton,  engineers;  Lew  Miller,  steward,  and  thirty- 
seven  men.  Going  straight  through  to  Fort  Lincoln, 
she  stopped  there  to  pick  up  Charlie  Reynolds,  the  scout 
and  hunter,  then  crossed  to  Bismarck,  where  General 
Forsyth  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Grant  came  on  board, 
accompanied  by  several  professors  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  bent  upon  scientific  research.  Having  no 
freight  to  deliver,  the  Josephine  proceeded  without  delay 
to  Fort  Buford,  where  she  arrived  on  the  25th  of  May, 
and  took  on  the  escort,  consisting  of  Companies  E,  G, 
and  H,  of  the  6th  Infantry,  commanded  respectively  by 
*  Official  Army  Register. 

197 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Captain  Thomas  Britton,  1st  Lieut.  W.  H.  H.  Crowell, 
and  2nd  Lieut.  R.  E.  Thompson,  a  total  force  of  seven 
officers  and  one  hundred  enUsted  men.  There  were,  in 
addition,  four  mounted  scouts,  of  whom  CharHe  Reynolds 
was  the  chief.  One  one-inch  Gatling  gun,  with  10,000 
rounds  of  ammunition,  was  carried,  and  the  troops  were 
provided  with  350  rounds  of  rifle  ammunition  and  with 
one  month's  subsistence  per  man.  Thus  loaded,  the 
Josephine,  which  registered  300  tons  burden,  drew  only 
twenty  inches  of  water.* 

All  was  now  ready  for  the  start  into  the  wilderness. 
The  prospect  before  the  voyagers  was  enough  to  arouse 
the  enthusiasm  of  any  man  having  within  him  the  love 
of  primeval  nature  and  feeling  the  fascination  of  mys- 
teries unsolved  which  lead  the  feet  onward  along  a  path- 
way of  discovery.  Comfortable  quarters  had  been  pre- 
pared for  each  of  the  160  men  on  the  boat  and  they  were 
plentifully  supplied  with  all  necessary  provisions,  while 
the  spice  of  danger  added  to  their  enterprise  by  the  possi- 
bility of  encountering  hostile  Indians  was  just  sufficient 
to  be  exhilarating  without  causing  serious  apprehension. 
It  is  rarely  that  an  exploring  expedition  can  set  out  into 
a  savage  region  provided  with  so  many  of  the  comforts 
of  civilization. 

Captain  Marsh  was  anxious  to  be  well  within  the  mouth 

of  the  Yellowstone  before  darkness  fell,   in  order  that 

good  progress  might  be  made  the  following  day,  so  at 

*  "  Report  of  an  expedition  up  the  Yellowstone  River,  made  in  1875 
by  James  W.  Forsyth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Military  Secretary,  and 
F.  D.  Grant,  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Aide-de-Camp." 

198 


Bound  for  the  Mountains 


six  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  26th,  as  soon  as  the 
escort  was  on  board,  he  backed  off.  Before  sundown 
the  Josephine  had  passed  out  of  the  Missouri  and  was 
breasting  the  impetuous  current  of  the  Yellowstone, 
which  leaping  from  its  steep  channel  into  the  larger  stream 
with  the  full  force  of  the  spring  freshets  behind  it,  seemed 
determined  to  entirely  usurp  the  place  of  the  latter.  Be- 
fore the  last  streaks  of  the  long  twilight  had  faded  from 
the  west,  the  boat  had  plowed  her  way  twelve  miles  up 
the  headstrong  river  and  come  to  rest  for  the  night  at  the 
foot  of  Forsyth's  Butte,  towering  high  above  the  bottoms 
of  the  right  bank.  She  had  no  sooner  been  made  fast 
than  General  Forsyth  ordered  a  strong  cordon  of  guards 
to  be  posted  out  on  the  prairie,  extending  in  a  semi-circle 
to  the  bank  above  and  below  the  boat,  as  a  protection 
against  Indian  surprise.  This  practice  was  adhered  to 
throughout  the  voyage,  both  at  night  and  when,  during 
daylight,  a  landing  was  made  to  procure  fuel. 

The  next  morning  at  four  o'clock  the  Josephine  was  off 
again,  and  by  the  afternoon  of  May  29th  had  reached  Wolf 
Rapids,  just  below  the  mouth  of  the  Powder,  the  most 
formidable  obstruction  to  navigation  yet  encountered. 
The  river  had  been  found  at  a  good  stage,  about  two  feet 
below  high  water  mark,  and  the  current  over  the  normal 
channel  averaged  four  miles  per  hour.  On  Wolf  Rapids 
it  attained  the  high  velocity  of  six  miles,  but  the  boat 
was  easily  able  to  steam  about  over  them,  taking  sound- 
ings and  finding  a  minimum  depth  of  eight  feet  along  the 
channel. 

199 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


On  the  right  bank  of  these  rapids  a  perpendicular  cliff 
rises  sheer  from  the  water  to  a  height  of  fifty  feet,  its 
face  seamed  with  veins  of  bituminous  coal,  the  largest  as 
much  as  five  feet  in  thickness.  Bituminous  coal  along 
the  upper  Missouri  and  the  Yellowstone  is  common,  vast 
fields  of  it  underlying  portions  of  North  Dakota  and 
Montana.  In  recent  years  some  of  these  have  been 
developed  in  a  very  limited  way,  and  as  the  country 
becomes  populated  they  will  doubtless  be  worked  more 
extensively.  But  during  all  his  early  years  in  the  north- 
west, neither  Captain  Marsh  nor  any  other  of  the  steam- 
boat men  were  able  to  make  any  use  of  the  native  coal 
deposits.  The  difficulty  of  procuring  firewood  induced 
them  to  make  every  effort  to  utilize  the  coal,  which  might 
have  been  shoveled  from  the  river  banks  in  hundreds 
of  places  where  it  had  broken  off  and  fallen  in  heaps 
from  outcropping  veins.  Had  it  been  of  any  value,  it 
would  have  solved  the  fuel  problem  completely.  But 
it  could  not  be  made  to  burn  by  any  means.  On  his  boats 
at  different  times  Captain  Marsh  tested  it  in  the  laundry 
stoves  and  tried  to  keep  up  steam  in  the  boilers  with 
it  over  night.  Then  he  had  some  of  it  thoroughly  dried 
and,  pihng  seasoned  wood  around  and  under  it  in  the 
furnaces,  subjected  it  to  the  greatest  heat  that  could  be 
produced.  But  without  avail.  Like  iron,  it  would  red- 
den around  the  edges,  but  it  would  not  burn,  and  after 
each  experiment  it  had  to  be  pulled  from  the  furnaces 
and  thrown  in  the  river.  When  he  returned  to  North 
Dakota  in  1903,  after  an  absence  of  twenty  years,  the 

200 


Bound  for  the  Mountains 


captain  found  to  his  surprise  that  all  steamboats  were 
using  the  native  coal  to  the  exclusion  of  wood.  It  seems 
hardly  conceivable  that  the  coal  can  have  undergone  a 
change  in  quality  in  so  short  a  time,  but  it  is  nevertheless 
true  that  now  an  excellent  quality  of  fuel  is  gathered  from 
the  same  deposits  which  two  decades  ago  were  as  useless 
for  the  purpose  as  so  much  rubble-stone. 


201 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

BREASTING   UNKNOWN  WATERS 

Tet  these  are  but  the  vanguard  of  the  race. 
The  fearless  few  who  force  the  victor's  hour; 

Behind  them  press  the  myriads,  to  place 
The  flag  of  conquest  on  the  seats  of  power. 

ON  the  same  afternoon  that  Wolf  Rapids  were 
explored,  the  Josephine  reconnoitered  the  mouth 
of  Powder  River  and  then,  passing  on  beneath 
the  shadow  of  Sheridan's  Buttes,  the  last  familiar  land- 
mark, came  to  rest  for  the  night  ten  miles  above.  From 
the  time  that  the  Powder  was  left  behind  timber  was 
found  to  be  very  scarce,  even  on  the  islands,  and  the 
boat  was  obliged  to  make  frequent  stops  while  the  wood- 
cutters and  their  guards  went  out  for  fuel.  This  con- 
dition prevailed  until  the  mouth  of  Tongue  River  was 
attained,  thirty-eight  miles  above  the  Powder.  But  from 
its  valley  on  westward  the  timber  became  magnificent, 
many  of  the  cottonwoods  having  a  diameter  of  five  feet 
and  some  of  six  feet.  General  Forsyth,  in  his  oflBcial 
report  of  the  expedition,  declared  that  some  of  the  large, 
wooded  islands  "  are  so  handsome  that  they  almost  make 
the  voyager  believe  that  they  are  the  well-kept  grounds 
pertaining  to  some  English  country-house.     I  never  saw 

202 


Breasting  Unknown  Waters 


so  fine  a  growth  of  cottonwood  in  my  life  as  on  the  Yel- 
lowstone twenty-five  miles  above  Tongue  River." 

No  Indians  were  seen  until  the  Tongue  was  reached, 
on  the  evening  of  May  30th,  though  the  mounted  scouts 
had  been  off  scouring  the  northward  hills  for  "signs" 
all  that  day.  But  as  the  boat,  in  the  light  of  the  setting 
sun,  approached  the  finely  timbered  valley  of  this  tribu- 
tary, a  considerable  Indian  camp  was  discovered,  nestled 
among  the  trees.  The  red  men  sighted  the  boat  at  the 
same  moment,  and  were  evidently  terror-stricken  thereby, 
for  they  fled  precipitately,  abandoning  some  of  their  camp 
equipage  and  leaving  their  tepee  fires  burning.  So  hasty 
was  their  departure  that  no  movement  could  have  been 
made  against  them  even  if  any  had  been  contemplated. 
From  the  time  that  this  encampment  was  encountered, 
the  men  on  the  boat  could  now  and  then  see  signal  smokes 
rising  back  among  the  hills  or  on  the  buttes  along  the 
river.  Warned  by  these  mute  evidences  that  the  enemy 
was  observing  their  progress,  the  guards  were  cautioned 
to  renewed  vigilance  at  night. 

The  method  employed  by  these  Indians,  and  by  all 
the  Sioux,  in  manipulating  their  signal  fires,  was  inter- 
esting. The  dusky  scout  who  had  news  to  convey  to 
other  scouts  or  to  distant  camps  would  first  select  as  the 
location  for  his  fire  the  crest  of  some  conspicuous  eleva- 
tion. Here  with  his  knife  he  would  dig  a  small  hole  in 
the  ground,  fill  it  with  damp  prairie  grass  and  light  it, 
making  a  smudge,  the  smoke  from  which  would  rise  high 
in  a  straight  column  through  the  still  summer  air.     After 

203 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


he  had  permitted  it  to  smolder  for  a  minute  or  two,  he 
would  throw  his  blanket  over  the  hole,  cutting  off  the 
smoke  for  a  time,  and  then  withdraw  it  and  send  up 
another  column.  In  this  way  many  signals,  previously 
arranged,  could  be  transmitted  to  distant  points  by  vari- 
ous combinations  of  smoke  columns  and  intervals,  as  tele- 
graphic messages  are  transmitted  by  dots  and  dashes. 

General  Forsyth  had  been  instructed  to  make  an  ex- 
amination of  the  mouth  of  Rosebud  River,  which  point 
was  reached  on  the  1st  of  June.  But,  strangely  enough, 
after  a  careful  survey  the  General  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  not  the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud  and  that,  in 
fact,  this  stream  did  not  empty  into  the  Yellowstone  at 
all,  but  into  the  Tongue.  Though  the  Rosebud  is  one 
of  the  chief  affluents  of  the  Yellowstone,  for  some  reason 
its  bed  happened  to  be  dry  at  the  time  of  the  Josephine's 
visit,  so  that  General  Forsyth's  conjecture  was  not  un- 
natural. 

Until  the  Big  Horn  had  been  passed,  on  the  afternoon 
of  June  2nd,  the  soldiers  of  the  escort  enjoyed  an  easy 
existence.  Their  quarters  were  comfortable  and  they 
passed  many  hours  daily  in  lounging  about  their  bunks, 
talking,  playing  cards  and  writing  letters  to  be  mailed 
on  their  return.  It  was  part  of  the  business  of  the  con- 
tractor for  steamboat  transportation  to  build  temporary 
bunks  along  the  sides  of  the  main  deck,  back  of  the  boil- 
ers, for  the  accommodation  of  the  enlisted  men,  on  boats 
which  were  to  carry  escorts.  The  officers  were  always 
quartered  in  the  cabins  on  the  deck  above,  which  in 

204 


Breasting  Unknown  Waters 


steamboat  nomenclature  is  known  as  the  "boiler  deck"; 
for  what  reason  no  steamboat  man  seems  able  to  explain, 
since  the  boilers  really  stand  on  the  main  deck,  below. 
The  soldiers  did  not  even  have  to  go  out  in  hunting  squads, 
as  was  often  the  case  on  such  trips,  because  the  inde- 
fatigable Charlie  Reynolds,  alone,  supplied  them  with 
more  fresh  meat  than  they  could  use.  On  the  islands 
and  in  the  valleys  of  the  Yellowstone  grew  quantities  of 
wild  plums  and  cherries,  buffalo-berries,  gooseberries, 
currants  and  strawberries,  and  the  troops  sometimes 
found  opportunity  for  gathering  such  of  these  fruits  as 
were  then  ripe  to  add  to  their  bill  of  fare.  The  nightly 
guard  duty  had,  of  course,  to  be  performed,  but  at  other 
times,  save  when  wood  was  being  cut,  all  the  men  were 
at  leisure  except  three,  who  were  constantly  occupied 
while  the  boat  was  in  motion,  in  measuring  distances. 

This  last  was  an  important  duty  and  the  method  pur- 
sued, which  had  been  employed  also  on  the  Key  West 
in  1873,  was  a  novel  one.  It  was  out  of  the  question  on 
such  a  trip  to  have  men  walk  along  the  bank  and  accu- 
rately determine  the  distances  from  point  to  point;  time 
would  not  allow  it.  So  the  work  was  done  on  the  boat. 
The  men  having  it  in  charge  were  stationed  on  the  top,  or 
"  hurricane  "  deck,  the  length  of  which  from  bow  to  stern 
was  exactly  150  feet.  One  of  them  took  his  place  at  the 
stern  to  keep  the  record  and  the  other  two  at  the  bow. 
As  soon  as  the  boat  got  under  way,  one  of  the  men  at 
the  bow  selected  an  object  on  shore  and  keeping  abreast 
of  it,  walked  toward  the  stern.     When  he  reached  the 

205 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


latter,  still  abreast  of  his  marking  point,  he  had  walked 
150  feet  and  the  boat,  obviously,  had  advanced  a  like 
distance.  Upon  his  gaining  the  stern,  the  second  man 
started  from  the  bow,  similarly  covering  an  object  on 
shore,  while  the  first  returned  to  the  bow  to  repeat  the 
process,  and  so  on.  While  not  to  be  compared  in  accu- 
racy with  a  survey,  this  method  established  the  distances 
along  the  river  with  approximate  certainty,  and  from  that 
day  to  the  present  the  measurements  taken  by  the  Key 
West  and  the  Josephine  have  been  regarded  as  the  stand- 
ard ones  for  the  Yellowstone,  no  regular  survey  of  the 
river  having  ever  been  made. 

Taking  up  the  work  where  he  had  left  it  in  1873,  Cap- 
tain Marsh  began  naming  the  prominent  points  along  the 
river  as  soon  as  the  Powder  was  passed.  Among  the 
eminences  thus  named  were  Devil's  Back  Bone  Buttes, 
Cap  Butte,  Tower,  Bad  Land,  Marsh's,  Lookout,  Sun- 
down, Rosebud,  and  Bessie  Buttes,  The  Palisades,  Gray's 
and  Huntley's  Bluffs,  Cape  Horn,  just  above  Big  Horn 
River,  The  Turrets,  two  fantastic,  castle-like  rocks  stand- 
ing side  by  side  on  the  north  shore  thirty-five  miles  be- 
yond Cape  Horn,  and  Belle  Butte,  the  later  marking 
the  highest  point  attained  by  the  Josephine.  Some  of 
the  rapids  receiving  titles  were  Baker's,  Dixon's,  and 
Bear  Rapids,  The  Narrows,  and  Hell  Roaring  Rapids, 
the  last,  of  sulphurous  suggestion,  lying  at  the  foot  of 
Belle  Butte.  The  chief  islands  which  were  given  their 
designations  by  the  Josephine's  master  were  Reynold's, 
Eagle,  Poncie  and  Bear  Islands,  and  The  Thousand  Isles. 

206 


Breasting  Unknown  Waters 


When  he  personally  was  navigating  the  boat.  Captain 
Marsh  always  kept  beside  him  in  the  pilot-house  a  note- 
book, in  which  he  recorded  for  his  own  future  use  the 
characteristics  of  the  channel  and  the  adjacent  shores. 
This  detailed  log,  which  has  been  previously  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  exploring  trip  of  the  Key  West, 
the  captain  grew  so  accustomed  to  maintaining  that 
invariably  after  completing  a  crossing  and  getting  the 
boat  straightened  up  on  her  new  course,  he  would  pick 
up  his  notebook  and  enter  his  observations  on  the  sec- 
tion of  river  just  passed.  The  entries  would  read  some- 
what as  follows: 

"Run  left-hand  shore  up  past  a  big  bluff.  Plenty  of 
dead  timber  in  this  bend.  Then  cross  from  the  dead 
wood  in  the  left-hand  bluff  over  to  a  short,  right-hand 
bend.  Small  timber  in  the  head  of  this  bend.  Run  to 
the  head  of  this  short,  right-hand  bend,  then  circle  out 
between  two  islands  (first  island  named  Crittenden  Island 
for  General  T.  L.  Crittenden,  17th  Infantry;  second 
named  Elk  Island)  and  come  back  to  a  right-hand  prairie 
bend.  Run  this  bend  to  the  head  of  it,  then  cross  from 
the  dead  timber  in  the  head  of  the  right-hand  bend  over  to 
a  deep,  left-hand  bluff  bend  (bluff  named  Calf  Head 
Butte)."* 

It  did  not  occur  to  Captain  Marsh  that  the  entries  in 

*  Extract  from  lo^  of  steamer  Mandan,  Captain  W.  H.  Gould,  of  trip 
up  the  Yellowstone  uiver  in  July,  1905,  with  additions  applicable  to  the 
trip  of  the  steamer  Key  West,  in  1873.  The  log  of  the  Mandan  was  kept 
by  Captain  Marsh,  who  was  employed  by  the  Government  to  make 
an  examination  of  the  Yellowstone  with  her,  and  the  vessel  was  chartered 
for  his  use. 

207 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


his  notebook  could  be  of  interest  to  any  one  except  him- 
self. But  one  day  General  Forsyth  was  sitting  on  the 
pilot's  bench  behind  him,  and  observing  him  writing, 
inquired : 

"  Captain,  what  is  it  that  you  are  always  putting  down 
in  that  book?" 

"Notes  about  the  channel,"  replied  Captain  Marsh. 

The  General  was  interested,  and  after  the  nature  of 
the  entries  had  been  explained  to  him,  he  exclaimed: 

"Well,  by  George,  I  want  that  information;  it  is  ex- 
actly what  I  am  after  and  have  never  been  able  to  get." 

"Why,  I  thought  you  were  after  information  about 
the  country,  General,"  said  the  captain.  "You  have 
engineer  officers  and  professors  from  the  Smithsonian 
along  with  you,  and  I  didn't  suppose  my  little  notes  could 
be  of  any  value  to  you  compared  with  the  ones  they  are 
getting." 

"  You  didn't?  "  cried  the  General.  "  Why,  what  do  you 
suppose  I  care  about  the  geological  formation  of  this 
country  or  the  traces  of  Mespzoic  formations?  I  want 
military  information  for  the  use  of  campaigning  troops; 
I  want  to  know  about  this  river  for  the  transportation 
of  supplies,  and  all  the  engineers  and  professors  on  earth 
can't  give  me  what  you  have  in  that  book.  I  want  it  to 
take  back  to  headquarters  with  me." 

At  the  end  of  the  voyage  the  captain  accordingly  turned 
over  his  notebook  to  General  Forsyth,  exacting  a  promise, 
however,  that  it  should  be  used  only  for  military  purposes 
and  should  not  be  copied  for  the  use  of  other  pilots  who 

208 


Breasting  Unknown  Waters 


might  later  want  to  ascend  the  Yellowstone.  The  cap- 
tain maintained  that  the  book  was  of  pecuniary  value  to 
him,  and  that  he  could  sell  copies  of  it  to  other  pilots  for 
considerable  sums.  He  regarded  it  as  his  personal  prop- 
erty, but  General  Sheridan  took  a  different  view  of  the 
matter.  A  year  or  so  later,  when  many  boats  had  occa- 
sion to  ascend  the  Yellowstone  on  Government  business, 
Sheridan  had  copies  made  of  the  log  of  Captain  Marsh 
and  gave  them  to  all  pilots  who  applied.  General  For- 
syth protested,  saying  he  had  promised  the  captain  that 
his  book  should  not  be  made  public.  Sheridan  disposed 
of  the  objections  summarily  by  exclaiming  to  Forsyth : 

"  You  tell  Marsh  to  go  to  a  warmer  climate !  Ask  him 
if  he  thinks  we've  been  paying  him  four  times  as  much 
as  any  other  steamboat  man  all  these  years  just  to  have 
him  keep  his  knowledge  bottled  up  for  private  use? 
His  work  on  a  Government  boat  belongs  to  the  Govern- 
ment; he's  paid  to  know  about  the  river  and  to  tell  us 
about  it,  and  I'll  use  his  logbook  for  any  purpose  I  think 
proper." 

When  he  heard  of  this  outburst  on  the  part  of  his  good 
friend  Sheridan,  Captain  Marsh  laughed  and  mentally 
bade  farewell  to  his  log,  for  he  knew  that  the  General  was 
right. 


209 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

"lonesome  Charlie" 

Not  hiding,  as  the  wolf  and  hind, 
From  blinding  snow  and  bitter  wind. 
Nor,  like  the  Indian,  crouching  low 
Above  a  brush-fire's  feeble  glow. 

REYNOLD'S  Island,  which  was  mentioned  a  little 
way  back,  was  given  its  name  in  honor  of  the 
gallant  scout  and  hunter  of  the  expedition,  who 
was  best  known  through  the  northwest  as  "Lonesome 
Charlie"  Reynolds.  This  man  had  attained  a  fame 
along  the  frontier  as  wide  as  that  of  "Yellowstone" 
Kelly,  and  his  character  and  exploits  were  similar  in 
many  respects  to  those  of  "  the-little-man-with-a-strong- 
heart."  Like  him,  Rejniolds  had  come  of  a  good  family 
in  the  East,  where  he  had  lived  until  1860.  Then,  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  his  restless  nature  impelled  him  to 
seek  the  West.  He  joined  an  emigrant  party  bound 
for  California,  which  was  driven  back  by  the  Indians. 
But  his  short  experience  with  the  ill-starred  enterprise 
had  given  the  boy  a  taste  of  the  wild  life  which  he  craved, 
and  he  remained  in  the  border  country,  hunting  and 
trapping,  exploring  and  scouting,  from  the  plains  of  old 
Mexico  to  the  forks  of  the  Republican  River,  serving  for 
three  years  during  the  Civil  War  in  a  Kansas  regiment 

210 


Lonesome  Cliarlie" 


along  the  frontier,  and  some  years  afterward  drifting  to  the 
Northwest. 

Here  his  marvelous  gifts  as  a  hunter,  more  remarkable 
even  than  those  of  Kelly,  quickly  earned  him  a  wide 
reputation,  and  for  some  time  he  was  employed  by  con- 
tract to  supply  the  garrisons  of  Fort  Rice  and  Fort  Ste- 
venson with  fresh  meat.  The  phrase,  "Reynold's  luck," 
became  a  familiar  one,  and  other  hunters,  envious  of  his 
success,  resorted  to  all  manner  of  plausible  explanations 
for  their  failure  to  emulate  his  performances.  Among 
the  Gros  Ventres,  Mandan  and  Arikaree  Indians  at  Fort 
Berthold,  with  whom  he  frequently  came  in  contact, 
his  prowess  was  attributed  to  magic,  or  "medicine,"  and 
their  superstitious  jealousy  sometimes  placed  him  in  dan- 
ger of  his  life.  On  one  occasion,  in  the  dead  of  winter, 
when  the  Indians  at  the  agency  were  actually  suffering 
for  want  of  the  meat  which  their  hunters  could  not  pro- 
cure, Reynolds  started  out  from  Fort  Berthold  for  a  hunt, 
accompanied  by  a  young  half-breed  Arikaree  named 
Peter  Beauchamp.  They  took  with  them  a  wagon  and 
made  their  way  southward  to  the  valley  of  the  Little 
Missouri,  where  they  almost  immediately  came  upon  a 
herd  of  eight  elk.  With  his  customary  skill,  Reynolds 
got  to  leeward  of  them,  crept  within  long  rifle  range  and 
succeeded  in  picking  them  all  off.  Beauchamp  and  he 
then  dressed  them,  loaded  the  wagon  with  as  much  meat 
as  it  would  carry  and,  caching  the  rest,  returned  to  the 
agency. 

Seeing  Reynolds  come  in  loaded  down  with  game  from 
211 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


a  place  where  they  had  hunted  in  vain,  the  Indians, 
especially  the  Gros  Ventres,  became  very  angry,  and 
Beauchamp  aroused  them  to  frenzy  by  telling  them, 
purely  for  his  own  amusement,  a  story  about  the  "medi- 
cine "  which  Reynolds  had  used  on  the  hunt.  He  declared 
that  when  "  the -white -hunter -who -never -goes -out- for- 
nothing,"  as  Reynolds  was  called  by  the  Indians,  first  came 
upon  the  trail  of  the  elk,  he  examined  it  to  see  that  it 
was  fresh,  then  took  from  a  hidden  pocket  a  black  bottle 
and  poured  a  few  drops  of  its  liquid  contents  upon  the 
trail.  Then  he  sat  down  on  a  log  and  waited  for  an 
hour,  when  all  the  elk  returned  upon  their  tracks  and  he 
had  nothing  to  do  but  shoot  and  dress  them. 

The  story  aroused  the  Gros  Ventres  to  such  a  pitch  of 
superstitious  fury  that  to  the  number  of  two  hundred 
they  rushed  to  Malnorie's  trading-store,  where  Reynolds, 
all  unsuspicious  of  coming  trouble,  was  quietly  resting 
after  his  long  journey.  They  surrounded  the  building 
and  demanded  from  him  the  black  bottle,  threatening 
that  if  he  did  not  give  it  up  they  would  kill  him.  The 
employees  of  the  trading  establishment,  when  they  saw 
the  angry  mob  approaching,  fled  to  the  stockade,  leaving 
Reynolds  and  his  friend  Malnorie  to  face  the  sudden 
peril  alone.  Reynolds,  of  course,  had  no  bottle  to  give 
and  told  the  Gros  Ventres  so,  whereupon  they  drew 
their  knives  and  made  a  dash  upon  his  team  of  horses, 
which  still  stood  hitched  before  the  store,  intending  to 
cut  the  animals'  throats.  But  the  hunter  threw  his 
dreaded  rifle  to  his  shoulder  and  warned  them  that  the 

212 


^* Lonesome  Charlie^* 


first  man  who  touched  a  horse  would  die.  They  knew 
him  to  be  as  good  as  his  word,  and  at  last  sullenly  with- 
drew, vowing  vengeance,  which,  however,  they  never 
dared  attempt.  To  the  Arikaree  tribesmen,  who  had 
taken  no  part  in  the  attack,  Reynolds  gave  two  of  the  dead 
elk,  but  to  the  Gros  Ventres  he  gave  nothing,  a  procedure 
not  calculated  to  restore  the  good  humor  of  the  latter. 

In  1875,  when  he  accompanied  the  Josephine,  Rey- 
nolds was  about  thirty-one  years  of  age,  a  slender,  sinewy 
man  five  feet  eight  inches  in  height,  slightly  stoop-shoul- 
dered, with  restless  gray  eyes  and  a  voice  as  gentle  as 
a  woman's.  Like  Kelly,  he  was  very  chary  of  speech, 
seeming  even  surly  on  short  acquaintance,  though  such 
was  not  the  case,  for  his  disposition  was  cheerful  and  his 
generosity  such  that  he  would  hesitate  at  no  sacrifice 
for  a  friend.  As  a  scout  his  services  were  of  great  value 
to  the  expedition  and  the  slaughter  he  wrought  among 
the  wild  animals  of  the  country  caused  continual  aston- 
ishment to  the  soldiers,  whom  his  rifle  kept  constantly 
supplied  with  such  a  variety  of  choice  game  as  would 
have  tickled  the  palate  of  an  epicure.  The  friendship 
existing  between  Captain  Marsh  and  "  Lonesome  Charlie" 
was  close  and  warm,  and  it  continued  up  to  the  day 
when  the  brave  scout,  after  passing  through  countless 
dangers,  laid  down  his  life  in  the  service  of  his  country 
and  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  land  which  had  so  long  been 
his  home.* 

*  An  extended  account  of  the  life  and  adventures  of  Charles  Reynolds 
ia  contained  in  Joseph  H.  Taylor's  "Frontier  and  Indian  Life." 

213 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

BY  LINE   AND   SPAR  TO   THE    HEAD   OF  NAVIGATION 

The  wood  bulged  out  o'  the  furnace  door. 
An'  the  steam-gauge  hissed  with  the  load  it  bore, 
But  she  couldn't  do  the  trick. 

EARLY  on  the  morning  of  June  2nd,  the  mouth 
of  Big  Horn  River  came  into  view,  and  the 
explorers  were  surprised  at  the  size  and  volume  of 
the  stream.  It  was  fully  150  yards  wide,  with  a  powerful 
current  hurling  its  waters  forward  into  the  Yellowstone. 
The  Josephine's  prow  was  turned  into  the  mysterious 
torrent,  whose  name  for  years  had  been  a  synonym  for 
the  stamping-ground  of  the  dreaded  hostiles,  and  she 
forced  her  way  for  twelve  miles  above  its  outlet.  But 
at  length  the  channel  became  so  broken  by  chutes  and 
so  obstructed  by  mud-banks  that  further  progress  was 
impossible.  General  Forsyth  concluded  that  they  had 
reached  the  Big  Horn's  head  of  navigation,  but  the  next 
year  Captain  Marsh  succeeded  in  ascending  it  very 
much  further  with  the  steamer  Far  West. 

Although  this  tributary  seemed  to  contribute  so  much 
to  the  volume  of  the  Yellowstone,  the  latter  did  not  ap- 
pear to  diminish  above  the  Big  Horn's  mouth.  It  con- 
tinued to  vary  in  width  from  300  to  1,000  yards,  though 

214 


By  Line  and  Spar  to  the  Head  of  Navigation 

the  Josephine  found  as  she  went  on  that  the  current 
was  gradually  increasing  in  velocity.  From  the  time  she 
had  entered  the  Yellowstone  until  the  Big  Horn  was 
passed,  she  had  not  required  the  assistance  of  either 
spars  or  lines.  But  about  the  middle  of  the  forenoon 
on  June  3rd,  when  twenty-seven  miles  above  the  Big  Horn, 
the  pilot  noticed  that  the  rugged  bluffs  bordering  the 
valley  were  closing  in  ahead  of  them.  As  the  boat  moved 
forward,  the  bed  of  the  stream  became  more  and  more 
contracted,  while  momentarily  the  current  increased  in 
depth  and  rapidity,  until  she  found  herself  in  a  place 
where  the  bluffs  stood  only  eighty-five  yards  apart,  tower- 
ing straight  above  her.  Between  them,  the  torrent  swirled 
like  a  mill-race,  running  no  less  than  nine  miles  per  hour. 
Every  pound  of  steam  was  crowded  on  the  Josephine^s 
boilers,  and  her  paddle-wheel  beat  the  water  into  foam, 
but  the  utmost  speed  she  could  make  was  one-sixth  of  a 
mile  an  hour,  and  most  of  the  time  she  seemed  to  be 
standing  still.  The  captain  ordered  the  spars  set,  and 
after  an  exhausting  struggle  of  several  hours  the  boat  was 
finally  forced  through  "The  Narrows,"  as  the  place  was 
appropriately  termed,  into  the  wider  channel  beyond. 

For  some  miles  now  the  steaming  became  easy,  and  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  afternoon  the  Josephine  drew  in  sight 
of  an  isolated  butte  rearing  its  head  high  above  the  south- 
ern bank  and,  from  the  point  where  it  was  first  seen,  ap- 
parently standing  in  the  river  itself.  The  appearance  of 
it  aroused  the  greatest  enthusiasm  on  board,  for  it  was  at 
once  recognized  as  Pompey's  Pillar,  the  famous  landmark 

215 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


discovered  by  Captain  William  Clark,  of  the  Lewis  and 
Clark  Expedition,  in  1806,  when  conducting  their  explo- 
ration of  the  country  between  the  Mississippi  River  and 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  Everyone  in  the  Northwest  had  heard 
of  it,  but  no  one  on  the  Josephine  had  dared  hope  that  she 
could  reach  it.  But  at  its  base  the  boat's  lines  were 
made  fast,  and  the  remainder  of  the  day  was  spent  by  the 
crew  and  escort  in  examining  the  historic  rock. 

Pompey's  Pillar  *  is  composed  of  yellow  sandstone, 
and  stands  quite  alone  on  the  edge  of  the  river,  in  the 
midst  of  a  level  valley.  On  July  18,  1860,  Lieut.  Henry 
E.  Maynardier,  commanding  a  detachment  of  Captain 
William  F.  Raynold's  Yellowstone  exploring  expedition, 
conducted  observations  of  a  solar  eclipse  from  the  top 
of  the  Pillar.  In  his  report  t  he  stated  the  Indian  tradi- 
tion to  be  that  at  some  remote  time  the  massive  rock  had 
fallen  from  the  bluffs  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river 
and  rolled  across  to  its  present  resting  place.  But  the 
logical  explanation  of  its  formation  is,  that  the  ridge  once 
connecting  it  with  the  bluffs  had  been  worn  through  by 
the  erosion  of  the  river.  Its  soft  sandstone  was  easy  to 
cut,  and  high  up  on  its  face  the  Josephine^s  men  found 
inscribed  the  words,  "Wm.  Clark,  July  25,  1806,"  the 
letters  still  as  clearly  defined  as  when  chiseled  there  by 
the  illustrious  explorer,  sixty-nine  years  before. 

Many  of  the   steamboat   men   and   soldiers   followed 

Captain  Clark's  example  by  cutting  their  names  on  the 

*  In  his  Journal,  Captain  Clark  writes  the  name,  "  Pompey's  Tower." 

t  Embraced  in  the  "  Report  on  the  Exploration  of  the  Yellowstone 

River, '  by  Bvt.  Brigadier-General  W.  F.  Raynolds,  published  in  1868. 

216 


t?3  >- 


te 


■^' 


By  Line  and  Spar  to  the  Head  of  Navigation 

rock,  and  in  a  prominent  place  Captain  Marsh  inscribed: 
*'Josephi7ie,  June  3,  1875."  After  completing  this  record 
of  the  achievement  of  his  vessel,  the  captain  stood  look- 
ing up  at  the  crest  of  the  Pillar,  rearing  itself  majestically 
overhead  and  bathed  in  the  sunlight  of  late  afternoon, 
and  the  thought  came  to  him  that  in  such  a  place  it  would 
be  eminently  fitting  to  raise  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  where 
the  winds  of  Montana's  prairies  had  never  caressed  them 
before.  The  Josephine  was  the  possessor  of  two  hand- 
some flags,  for,  in  accordance  with  custom,  one  had  been 
given  her  by  the  builders  at  the  time  of  her  launching, 
while  the  second  she  had  received  some  time  later  from 
General  Stanley,  as  a  token  of  his  appreciation  that  she 
had  been  made  the  namesake  of  his  daughter.  Captain 
Marsh  now  went  down  to  the  boat,  and,  securing  the 
first  flag,  carried  it  to  the  top  of  the  Pillar,  where  he  nailed 
it  fast  to  a  stout  staff  and  left  it,  an  emblem  of  Colum- 
bia's supremacy  over  the  lonely  land,  to  wave  in  solitary 
beauty  until  storm  and  wind  should  wear  its  fabric  away. 

Some  of  the  men  spent  the  late  afternoon  in  fishing, 
and  with  great  success,  for  the  river  was  full  of  moun- 
tain trout,  catfish,  shiners  and  jack  salmon.  Then  after 
a  refreshing  sleep  in  the  deliciously  cool  air  of  the  Mon- 
tana summer  night,  the  voyagers  resumed  their  onward 
course  at  3:45  o'clock  next  morning.  But  their  jour- 
ney now  became  fraught  with  many  and  increasing  diffi- 
culties. The  great  river,  though  apparently  undimin- 
ished in  volume,  grew  more  and  more  swift,  constantly 
breaking  into  rapids  through  which  it  was  necessary  to 

217 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


warp  and  spar  the  boat,  while  numberless  small  islands 
split  the  channel  into  chutes,  no  one  of  which  was  large 
enough  for  easy  navigation.  At  times  it  seemed  that  a 
smooth  stretch  of  water  .had  been  reached,  where  it  would 
be  possible  to  coil  the  ropes,  ship  the  spars  and  stop  the 
"nigger"  engine,  but  invariably  just  beyond,  another 
rapid  would  be  encountered,  again  forcing  these  clumsy 
implements  into  use.  At  length,  after  two  days  of  in- 
cessant struggle,  Pry  or 's  Fork  was  reached,  opposite 
the  mouth  of  which,  three  years  before.  Major  Baker's 
detachment  had  been  attacked  by  Black  Moon  and  his 
Sioux  and  Cheyenne  warriors. 

Here,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Yellowstone  and  al- 
most at  Baker's  battleground,  was  encountered  a  large 
camp  of  Indians,  principally  Mountain  Crows,  on  their 
way  down  to  the  Big  Porcupine  to  hunt  buffalo.  The 
Josephine  had  met  the  buffalo  on  her  upward  journey. 
They  were  crossing  the  Yellowstone  in  countless  numbers 
between  the  Tongue  and  the  Big  Horn,  migrating  north 
from  their  wintering  places  among  the  foothills  of  the 
mountains,  and,  as  the  Indians  well  knew,  the  Big  Por- 
cupine lay  right  in  the  center  of  their  usual  line  of  ad- 
vance. The  Crows,  always  friendly  to  white  men,  were 
delighted  to  meet  the  expedition,  and  General  Forsyth  and 
some  of  his  officers  paid  them  a  visit  in  their  village,  leaving 
the  steamer  after  nightfall,  in  the  yawl.  They  found  the 
village  to  consist  of  351  lodges,  270  being  those  of  Mountain 
Crows  under  Iron  Bull,  Black  Foot,  Crazy  Head,  Long 
Horse,  and  Bear  Wolf;   fifty  Nez  Perces  lodges  under 

218 


By  Line  and  Spar  to  the  Head  of  Navigation 

Looking  Glass;  twenty  lodges  of  River  Crows  under 
Black  Bull  and  Forked  Tail ;  ten  lodges  of  Gros  Ventres  of 
the  Prairie  under  Brass  Bracelet,  and  one  Bannock  lodge. 

The  Mountain  Crows  at  this  time  were  reputed  to  be 
the  wealthiest  Indians  on  the  continent,  their  riches  con- 
sisting of  rare  and  elaborately  decorated  robes  and  skin 
lodges,  and,  more  largely  still,  of  vast  herds  of  ponies. 
The  herds  of  this  hunting  party  were  great  enough  to 
substantiate  the  statement,  for  they  seemed  to  be  grazing 
everywhere  about  the  village.  All  the  warriors  in  the 
encampment  were  well  armed  with  Sharp's  carbines  and 
they  had  a  reserve  ammunition  supply  of  over  15,000 
rounds,  furnished  them  by  the  Indian  Bureau.  They 
boldly  announced  that,  equipped  as  they  were,  they  would 
wipe  out  Sitting  Bull  and  his  Sioux  followers  if  only  the 
latter  could  be  brought  to  battle.  They  claimed  the  Big 
Horn  country  as  Crow  territory  and  declared  that  if 
necessary  they  would  kill  the  whole  Sioux  Nation  in 
order  to  possess  it.  These  people  were  intelligent  and 
thrifty  above  the  average  of  their  race,  and  quite  as  brave 
as  the  Sioux,  with  whom  they  had  long  been  at  enmity. 
Had  occasion  offered,  they  would  very  probably  have  tried 
to  make  good  their  threats.* 

The  meeting  with  this  friendly  camp  of  aborigines  was 
a  pleasant  diversion,  and  the  next  day  the  Josephine 
pushed  on  along  her  difficult  pathway.     Before  nightfall 

*  See  "  Rep6rt  of  an  Expedition  up  the  Yellowstone  River,  made  in 
1875,"  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  James  W.  Forsyth  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
F.  D.  Grant,  which  has  been  referred  to  for  dates  and  other  data  in  pre- 
paring the  account  of  the  Josephine's  trip. — J.  M.  H. 

219 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


a  tremendous  rapid  was  encountered  and  though,  after 
a  hard  struggle,  it  was  successfully  passed,  so  forbidding 
was  its  aspect  and  so  savage  the  resistance  it  offered, 
that  it  was  appreciatively  named  "Hell  Roaring  Rapids." 
At  the  head  of  it  the  boat  lay  up  for  the  night,  with  a 
line  stretched  to  the  bank  ahead  to  help  her  forward  in 
the  morning.  But  when  dawn  came,  General  Forsyth 
seeing  the  nature  of  the  river  in  front,  ordered  out  a  recon- 
noitering  party  who  marched  up  the  bank  for  several 
miles,  examining  the  channel.  On  their  return  they  re- 
ported the  whole  river  ahead  so  broken  up  by  islands 
and  with  so  powerful  a  current  that  it  could  not  be  navi- 
gated without  constant  resort  to  warping  and  sparring. 
General  Forsyth  and  Captain  Marsh  held  a  consulta- 
tion and  decided  that  no  adequate  reward  for  the  labor 
involved  was  to  be  gained  by  going  further.  So,  at  two 
o'clock  P.  M.  on  June  7th,  the  boat  was  turned  about 
and  started  on  her  return.  She  had  reached  a  point 
estimated  to  be  forty-six  miles  from  Pompey's  Pillar, 
250  miles  from  Powder  River  and  483  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  and  her  stopping  place,  meas- 
ured in  a  straight  line,  lies  less  than  sixty  miles  from  the 
northeastern  corner  of  the  present  Yellowstone  National 
Park.  Before  leaving  this  highest  point  attained,  Cap- 
tain Marsh  blazed  the  trunk  of  a  gigantic  cottonwood  to 
which  the  Josephine  was  tied,  and  carved  thereon  the 
name  of  the  boat  and  the  date.  It  is  exceedingly  im- 
probable that  a  steam  vessel  will  ever  again  come  within 
sight  of  that  spot  or  be  entitled  to  place  her  name  beneath 

220 


By  Line  and  Spar  to  the  Head  of  Navigation 

the  Josephine's  on  that  ancient  tree  trunk,  ahnost  under 
the  shadow  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Borne  downward  by  the  swift  current,  the  return  trip  was 
quickly  made,  and  in  four  days  the  voyagers  were  back 
at  Fort  Buford.  The  escort  was  here  disembarked  and 
the  boat  went  on  to  Bismarck,  where  the  army  officers  and 
scientific  men  left  her  and  departed  for  the  East  by  rail.* 

General  Forsyth  reported  to  General  Sheridan  that  the 
voyage  of  the  Josephine  had  proved  the  Yellowstone  to 
be  navigable  for  commercial  purposes  as  far  as  the  mouth 
of  Big  Horn  River;  Colonel  Grant  stated  that  it  was  so 
to  Pompey's  Pillar,  and  both  expressed  the  opinion  that, 
owing  to  its  gravel  bed,  its  stable  banks  and  islands  and 
its  freedom  from  snags,  it  offered  a  much  better  highway 
for  commerce  from  Fort  Buford  to  the  settlements  of  west- 
em  Montana  than  did  the  shifting  and  dangerous  Mis- 
souri from  the  same  point  to  Fort  Benton.  Their  judgment 
was  doubtless  correct,  though  the  opportunity  never  came 
for  demonstrating  it,  because  the  advent  of  railroads 
soon  after  put  an  end  to  all  through  river  traffic.  But 
their  report  aroused  much  interest  in  Montana,  and  in 
the  autumn  an  expedition  was  organized  at  Bozeman 
which  set  out  to  establish  a  town  at  "the  Josephine's 
head  of  navigation." 

*  General  J.  W.  Forsyth  on  this  trip  of  the  Josephine  was  as  much  im- 
pressed with  the  skill  and  dexterity  of  Captain  Marsh  as  General  G.  A. 
Forsyth  had  been  two  years  before.  In  a  recent  letter  to  the  author,  he 
takes  occasion  to  say  of  Captain  Marsh: 

"  I  considered  him  the  finest  Captain  that  navigated  the  upper  Missouri. 
He  was  exceedingly  popular  with  all  the  army  officers  stationed  in  that 
country." — J.  M.  H. 

221 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


The  point  selected  was  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  Big  Horn,  and  here  a  small  stockade  was  erected  and 
a  townsite  laid  out,  the  promoters  of  the  enterprise  ex- 
pecting to  create  a  metropolis  which  should  eclipse  Fort 
Benton  in  its  palmiest  days.  They  called  their  settlement 
Fort  Pease,  in  honor  of  F.  D.  Pease,  the  chief  of  the  expe- 
dition, and  their  idea  was  to  open  a  road  between  it  and 
Bozeman,  transship  freight  from  the  boats  to  wagons  and 
haul  it  over  to  the  settlements,  as  was  done  at  Fort  Ben- 
ton. But  unfortunately  their  location  was  in  the  center 
of  the  region  occupied  by  the  hostiles,  and  they  had 
scarcely  arrived  before  the  Sioux  appeared  and  placed 
them  in  a  state  of  close  investment.  From  that  time 
forth  throughout  the  winter,  the  colonists  were  engaged 
in  a  constant  battle  for  existence.  They  could  not  ven- 
ture from  the  stockade  without  being  fired  upon,  for 
some  of  the  enemy  were  always  sure  to  be  on  the  alert, 
and  even  when  within  the  defenses  they  could  not  feel 
altogether  safe  from  stray  bullets.  Occasionally  some 
Mountain  Crows  would  visit  the  post,  though  usually 
they  found  it  perilous  to  do  so.  But  one  winter's  after- 
noon, so  a  survivor  of  the  venture  afterward  related  to 
Captain  Marsh,  a  strong  war  party  of  these  friendly 
Indians  came  in  just  as  the  garrison  was  being  treated 
to  a  long-range  bombardment  by  some  Sioux  stationed 
on  the  bluflFs  across  the  river. 

The  Crows  were  braving  the  inclement  weather  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  securing  a  few  choice  scalps  from  their 
hereditary  enemies,   and    inasmuch   as   the   Sioux  were 

222 


By  Line  and  Spar  to  the  Head  of  Navigation 

evidently  in  small  number,  they  were  delighted  at  the  situ- 
ation of  aflPairs.  Informing  the  settlers  that  they  would 
soon  be  rid  of  their  persecutors,  the  Crows  drew  their 
robes  about  tliem  and  solemnly  marching  off  in  single 
file,  disappeared  in  the  brush.  They  walked  directly 
away  from  the  river  in  order  to  lull  the  enemy's  suspic- 
ions, but,  once  out  of  sight,  they  made  a  wide  detour, 
crossed  the  river  at  a  concealed  point  above  and  swing- 
ing around  behind  the  bluffs,  suddenly  rushed  upon  the 
Sioux,  who  were  too  much  absorbed  in  dropping  bullets 
into  the  stockade  to  keep  watch  of  their  line  of  retreat. 
The  hostiles,  who  were  only  three  in  number,  were  taken 
completely  by  surprise  and  fell  easy  victims  to  the  attack. 
Two  were  killed  outright  while  the  third,  badly  wounded, 
escaped  into  a  thicket. 

There  was  with  the  Crow  party  a  youth  who  had  still 
his  warrior's  spurs  to  win.  For  a  long  time  he  had  been 
expressing  his  ardent  desire  to  prove  his  metal  by  slaying 
a  Sioux.  The  warriors  now  crowded  around  him,  telling 
him  that  if  he  was  as  brave  as  he  boasted,  he  should  go 
into  the  thicket  and  kill  the  wounded  man  with  his  knife. 
Nothing  daunted,  the  boy  rushed  in.  For  a  few  mo- 
ments his  eagerly  waiting  companions  listened  to  the 
sounds  of  a  terrific  struggle  deep  among  the  bushes. 
Then  ensued  a  significant  silence  and  presently  the  young 
Crow  emerged,  triumphantly  holding  aloft  in  the  cold 
air  the  steaming  scalp  of  his  victim.  He  had  entered  the 
thicket  a  stripling;  he  came  out  a  full-fledged  warrior, 
to  be  honored  by  his  nation. 

223 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


After  mutilating  the  dead  bodies  according  to  time- 
honored  custom,  the  Crows  marched  back  to  Fort  Pease 
as  solemnly  as  they  had  gone  forth.  They  said  no  word 
of  their  success  upon  entering  the  stockade,  but  three 
of  the  warriors  advanced,  thrusting  their  hands  from 
their  blankets.  As  the  white  men  who  met  them  grasped 
the  proffered  hands,  these  fell  from  the  blankets  and  were 
left  dangling  in  their  startled  grip,  while  the  Crows  gave 
themselves  up  to  uproarious  laughter.  They  had  cut 
the  forearms  from  the  dead  Sioux  and  used  these  grew- 
some  trophies  for  announcing  their  victory. 

Such  successes,  however,  were  rare  in  the  short  but 
eventful  history  of  Fort  Pease.  Though  many  a  Sioux 
fell  before  the  rifles  of  the  besieged,  six  of  their  own  num- 
ber were  killed  and  nine  severely  wounded  before  the 
winter  was  half  over.  The  garrison  thus  became  reduced 
to  twenty-five,  while  the  Sioux  seemed  steadily  to  increase 
in  number.  As  day  after  day  passed  with  no  sign  of  re- 
laxation in  the  vigor  of  the  attack,  there  gradually  crept 
over  the  little  party  of  pioneers,  exhausted  by  ceaseless 
vigil,  the  dreadful  fear  of  total  annihilation.  For  a  time 
no  one  would  confess  it,  but  at  length  it  became  impos- 
sible longer  to  conceal  that  which  was  in  all  their  minds. 
Then  one  of  their  number  volunteered  to  attempt  the 
delivery  of  an  appeal  for  relief  to  the  commanding  oiOBcer 
at  Fort  Ellis,  175  miles  away.  He  bade  farewell  to  his 
comrades,  crept  from  the  stockade  and  did  not  return. 
More  weary  days  passed  while  the  garrison,  ignorant  of 
his  fate,  waited  for  either  the  help  which  they  knew  would 

224 


By  Line  and  Spar  to  the  Head  oj  Navigation 

come  if  he  had  escaped  or  the  death  which  it  seemed 
equally  certain  would  be  theirs  if  he  had  not. 

Finally,  one  day  in  March,  1876,  their  eyes  were  glad- 
dened by  the  sight  of  a  column  of  horsemen  marching  into 
the  valley,  four  troops  of  the  sturdy  old  2nd  Cavalry, 
under  Major  Brisbin.  Thankfully  the  garrison  aban- 
doned the  townsite  which  they  had  laid  out  with  such  high 
hopes  a  few  months  before  and  returned  to  Bozeman. 
They  left  the  flag  fluttering  defiantly  over  the  stout  walls 
which  had  stopped  so  many  a  singing  bullet  and  the  fort 
itself  to  become  one  of  the  heroic  traditions  of  the  frontier.* 

Major  Brisbin's  relief  expedition  was  the  first  military 
movement  against  the  hostile  Indians  of  the  memorable 
battle  year  of  1876,  and  it  was  a  bloodless  victory  for  the 
whites.  Yet,  exciting  as  had  been  the  meteoric  career  of  the 
post  which  he  rescued  and  which  had  been  established  in 
consequence  of  the  Josephine's  exploring  trip,  far  more 
momentous  events  were  soon  to  follow  on  which  the  results 
of  that  trip  were  destined  to  exercise  a  potent  influence.f 

*  Lieutenant  J.  H.  Bradley's  Journal,  in  the  contributions  to  the 
Historical  Society  of  Montana,  Vol.  11,  contains  an  interesting  account 
of  the  defense  of  Fort  Pease. — J.  M.  H. 

f  The  manuscript  of  the  foregoing  chapters  relating  to  the  Josephine's 
exploration  of  the  Yellowstone  in  1875  was  in  the  possession  of  the  late 
Major  General  James  W.  Forsyth  for  revision  or  correction  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  October  24th,  1906.  The  author  owed  a  debt  of  gratitude 
to  General  Forsjih  for  assistance  previously  rendered  in  the  preparation 
of  these  chapters  and  it  will  always  be  a  matter  of  regret  to  him  that  the 
General  could  not  have  read  them  in  their  completed  form.  Few  Amer- 
ican soldiers  have  served  their  country  with  more  distinction  and  honor 
than  did  General  Forsyth,  yet  little  concerning  his  brilliant  career  has 
ever  been  written,  either  by  himself  or  by  others.  After  General  For- 
syth's death.  Major  W.  H.  H.  Crowell,  U.  S.  A.,  who  commanded  a 
company  of  the  Josephine's  escort  in  1875,  kindly  gave  the  above  chap- 
ters a  critical  reading. — J.  M.  H. 

225 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

FIRST   BLOOD    FOR  CRAZY   HORSE 

Amid  the  battled  legions  of  a  land 
Foredoomed  to  overthrow,  he  rose  to  powW 
As  heroes  rise. 

THIRTEEN  long  years  had  now  passed  since  that 
summer  of  the  Minnesota  massacres,  when  the 
skirmish  hne  of  the  Republic  was  first  checked 
in  its  onward  sweep  by  the  outposts  of  the  Sioux.  Through 
those  years  the  red  enemy  had  been  driven  backward 
and  ever  backward  from  one  stronghold  to  another. 
But  the  paths  of  conquest  were  marked  by  the  bleaching 
bones  of  hundreds  of  white  men  to  attest  the  vigor  of 
barbarian  resistance,  while  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  Big 
Horn  country  still  roamed  defiantly  those  powerful  fac- 
tions of  the  Northwestern  tribes  whose  spirits  were  yet 
too  proud  to  bend  to  the  yoke  of  civilization.  They  were 
fighting  hard  for  their  old,  wild  life,  the  only  life  they 
and  their  race  had  known  from  time  immemorial. 

Ever  since  the  days  when  Sully  forced  his  toilsome  way 
through  the  bad  lands  of  the  Little  Missouri,  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior,  having  in  charge  the  conduct  of 
Indian  matters,  had  been  endeavoring  by  every  peaceful 
meains  to  induce  the  hostiles  to  come  into  the  agencies 

226 


First  Blood  for  Crazy  Horse 


and  settle  down.  These  efforts  had  apparently  been 
quite  fruitless,  and  as  time  went  on  the  Government 
officials  lost  patience.  Having  seen  during  the  summer 
of  1875  that  the  nomadic  element  among  the  Indians  was 
no  more  inclined  than  formerly  to  obey  his  orders,  the 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  at  last,  early  in  Decem- 
ber, 1875,  instructed  his  agents  to  notify  them  that  if 
they  did  not  come  in  by  the  31st  of  January,  1876,  they 
would  be  regarded  as  enemies  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  army  would  be  empowered  to  force  their  submission. 
Up  to  this  time  they  had  never,  in  theory,  at  least,  been 
consigned  absolutely  to  the  mercy  of  the  army,  the  latter 
having  been  employed  only  in  a  defensive  capacity,  to 
protect  emigration  and  commerce  from  their  attacks. 

However  justifiable  this  order  may  have  been,  the  time 
given  for  its  execution  was  certainly  very  short.  It  was 
issued  on  December  6th,  and  did  not  reach  the  Cheyenne 
River  Agency  until  December  20th,  or  the  Standing  Rock 
Agency  until  December  22nd.  From  these  points  mes- 
sengers had  then  to  be  despatched  to  the  absent  Indians. 
January,  1876,  came  in  with  bitter  weather.  Even  the 
upper  Missouri  Valley,  accustomed  to  severe  winters, 
had  not  known  such  cold  in  years.  The  runners  carry- 
ing the  message  of  the  Indian  Commissioner  were  delayed 
in  reaching  the  camps  in  the  buffalo  country,  and  when 
they  finally  arrived  they  found  the  hunting  parties  waiting 
for  the  inclement  weather  to  relax  so  that  they  might  begin 
killing  game.  Whether  any  of  the  absentees  had  been 
willing  to  comply  with  the  order  or  not,  it  was  past  the 

227 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


first  of  February  before  any  of  them  would  have  been 
able  to  return  to  the  agencies  from  their  distant  wintering 
places;  meantime,  the  Commissioner,  true  to  his  threat, 
had  given  into  the  hands  of  the  army  the  task  of  forcibly 
bringing  them  in.* 

General  Sheridan,  following  a  carefully  matured  plan, 
thereupon  prepared  to  institute  a  vigorous  campaign 
against  them.  At  three  different  points  on  the  borders 
of  the  Sioux  country  he  ordered  the  concentration  of 
strong  mobile  columns,  with  the  intention  of  under- 
taking a  winter  campaign.  The  three  bases  of  operation 
were  Fort  Abraham  Lincoln,  Dakota;  Fort  Fetterman, 
on  the  Platte  River,  Wyoming,  and  Fort  Ellis,  Montana. 
From  these  points  it  was  designed  to  drive  converging 
columns  wedge-like  into  the  enemy's  country,  catching 
and  crushing  between  them  any  force  which  might  oppose. 
At  Fort  Lincoln,  Gen.  Alfred  H.  Terry  was  in  charge  of 
local  operations,  at  Fort  Fetterman,  Gen.  George  Crook, 
and  at  Fort  Ellis,  Gen.  John  Gibbon. 

Through  the  first  two  months  of  the  year  the  severe 
weather  forbade  any  attempt  at  carrying  the  plans  into 
execution.  The  country  lay  buried  under  heavy  snows 
while  blizzards  of  frightful  intensity  swept  down  from 
the  north  at  frequent  intervals.  But  finally,  on  the  first 
day  of  March,  Crook  got  away  from  Fetterman  with  five 
troops  of  the  3rd  Cavalry  and  five  of  the  2nd,  under  Col. 
J.  J.  Reynolds,  and  four  companies  of  the  4th  Infantry. 
Pushing  forward  vigorously,  on  the  morning  of  March 
*  "  History  of  the  Sioux  Indians,"  by  Doane  Robinson. 

228 


n 


o 


^i 


'^-^ 


First  Blood  for  Crazy  Horse 


17th  he  succeeded  in  surprising  and  capturing  the  village 
of  Crazy  Horse,  the  leading  war  chief  of  the  Ogalalla 
Sioux,  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Powder  River. 

Though  the  soldiers  destroyed  the  village  of  105  lodges 
together  with  a  large  quantity  of  supplies,  and  captured 
the  Indian  pony  herd,  Crazy  Horse  rallied  his  followers 
so  promptly  and  made  such  a  vigorous  fight,  that  the 
troops  were  forced  to  retire  under  fire.  Encumbered  with 
wounded  and  suffering  agonies  from  the  cold,  their  return 
march  was  a  bitter  ordeal.  The  pony  herd  was  recap- 
tured by  the  Indians,  and  when  the  command  finally 
re-entered  the  post,  in  addition  to  the  wounded  of  the  en- 
gagement, sixty-six  men  were  badly  frostbitten.  Though 
they  had  lost  their  village,  the  moral  effect  of  the  entire 
movement  had  been  rather  to  embolden  than  to  intimi- 
date the  warriors  of  Crazy  Horse. 

With  the  opening  of  spring,  however,  affairs  assumed 
a  more  active  and  promising  appearance  in  the  theater 
of  war.  At  Fort  Ellis,  General  Gibbon  had  concentrated 
about  450  men,  consisting  of  six  companies  of  his  own 
regiment,  the  7th  Infantry,  a  strong  detachment  of  Crow 
scouts,  and  the  four  troops  of  the  2nd  Cavalry  embraced 
in  that  faithful  squadron  which,  from  its  fifteen  years 
of  continuous  service  in  the  territory,  came  to  be  known 
as  "the  Montana  Battalion."  Accompanied  by  a  large 
wagon  train.  Gibbon's  force  left  Fort  Ellis  on  March  30th 
and  proceeded  by  easy  stages  down  the  Yellowstone. 
They  encountered  very  few  Indians  during  the  first  two 
months  they  were  out,  and  through  this  time  the  expedi- 

229 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


tion  partook  of  many  of  the  enjoyable  features  of  a  pleas- 
ure excursion.  The  function  of  the  column  was  chiefly 
to  guard  the  north  bank  of  the  river  and  prevent  the 
Indians  from  crossing  in  case  they  should  thus  seek  to 
escape  from  Crook  and  Terry,  and  its  work  was  per- 
formed with  complete  success.  According  to  the  pre- 
arranged plan,  Gibbon  was  to  meet  Terry  at  Stanley's 
Stockade,  near  the  mouth  of  Glendive  Creek,  after  which 
the  two  were  to  co-operate  in  further  movements.  As 
will  be  presently  seen,  the  arrangement  was  practically 
carried  out  on  June  8th,  when  the  two  forces  came  into 
communication  at  the  mouth  of  Powder  River. 

Having  reorganized  and  increased  his  expeditionary 
force.  General  Crook  again  left  Fort  Fetterman  on  May 
29th.  He  now  had  ten  troops  of  the  3rd,  and  five  of  the 
2nd  Cavalry,  three  companies  of  the  9th,  and  two  of 
the  4th  Infantry,  200  Crow  scouts  and  considerable  wagon 
and  pack  trains;  in  all,  nearly  1,500  men.  He  pushed 
north  by  the  old  Bozeman  Road,  and  upon  reaching  the 
site  of  Fort  Phil  Kearney,  turned  east  and  struck  the 
Tongue  River  on  June  9th.  Crazy  Horse  had  sent  Crook 
a  warning  that  if  he  attempted  to  cross  Tongue  River,  he 
would  be  attacked.  No  sooner  had  the  troops  appeared 
on  the  forbidden  stream  than  the  doughty  Ogalalla,  true 
to  his  promise,  massed  his  warriors  on  the  opposite  bluffs 
and  opened  fire.  They  were  soon  dislodged  by  a  gallant 
assault  of  Mills'  squadron  of  the  3rd  Cavalry,  but  they 
fell  back  fighting. 

Leaving  his  trains  parked  under  guard  of  the  infantry, 
230 


First  Blood  for  Crazy  Horse 


Crook  now  pushed  across  the  Tongue,  his  men  carrying 
four  days'  rations  and  one  hundred  rounds  of  ammunition 
each,  and  made  a  forced  march  for  the  upper  Rosebud 
River,  where  he  had  reason  to  believe  the  village  of  Crazy 
Horse  lay.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  17th,  his  com- 
mand was  roused  from  its  bivouac  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rosebud  by  a  furious  attack  of  the  entire  Indian  force, 
so  formidable  a  body  of  warriors  that  it  deserves  the 
name  of  army.  The  troops  in  the  valley  with  difficulty 
drove  back  their  assailants  to  the  surrounding  bluffs, 
but  could  press  them  no  further.  Through  all  that  long 
day  a  conflict,  perhaps  the  most  stubbornly  contested  in 
the  history  of  Indian  warfare,  raged  over  the  hills  and 
ravines  of  the  Rosebud.  General  Crook's  column  was 
the  largest  ever  sent  against  the  hostile  Sioux,  excepting 
only  that  of  General  Sully  in  1864,  What  were  the  num- 
bers of  the  Indians  opposed  to  him  can  never  be  known 
with  accuracy,  but  that  they  largely  outnumbered  him  is 
certain.  And  they  made  good  use  of  their  superiority,  for 
they  fought  Crook  to  a  standstill,  held  him  back  from 
even  a  glimpse  of  their  lodge  villages  and  finally  forced 
him  into  a  retreat  on  his  wagon  trains  at  the  crossing  of 
the  Tongue,  carrying  twenty-seven  wounded  with  him  and 
leaving  ten  dead  on  the  field. 

Crook  and  his  officers  were  dumfounded  at  the  resist- 
ance which  they  had  met.  The  battle  of  the  Rosebud 
opened  their  eyes  to  the  fact  which  neither  they  nor  any 
other  white  men  had  apparently  understood  before,  that 
the  bulk  of  the  Sioux  Nation  had  taken  up  arms  against 

231 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


the  Government.  For  years  the  prevaiHng  estimates  of 
army  officers  and  others  in  a  position  to  be  well  informed 
had  placed  the  number  of  Sioux  hostiles  at  less  than  one 
thousand.  Crook's  battle  proved  conclusively  that  there 
were  several  times  this  number  in  his  front  alone,  while 
there  could  be  no  means  of  knowing  how  many  more  might 
be  in  other  camps  not  far  distant.  In  addition  to  their 
own  numbers,  the  Sioux  were  assisted  throughout  the 
campaign  by  a  heavy  contingent  of  northern  Cheyenne 
warriors  from  Nebraska,  who  were  thus  repaying  the  debt 
they  owed  for  help  rendered  them  by  the  Sioux  when,  in 
1868,  under  Roman  Nose,  they  were  opposing  the  building 
of  the  Union  Pacific. 

Crazy  Horse  was  well  aware  that  other  troops  were 
moving  against  his  people  from  Fort  Lincoln  and  Fort 
Ellis.  With  strategical  skill  of  a  quite  uncommon  quality, 
he  availed  himself  of  his  interior  lines  to  fight  his  oppo- 
nents in  detail.  After  defeating  Crook's  column  and  ren- 
dering it,  at  least  for  the  time,  incapable  of  further  offen- 
sive movement,  he  quickly  put  his  army  in  motion  for  the 
other  hostile  camps  on  the  Little  Big  Horn,  and  united 
with  them  in  time  to  be  in  at  the  death  when  Custer  was 
crushed  eight  days  later. 


232 


CHAPTER  XXX 

CUSTER   TO   THE    FRONT 

Men  of  Die  West,  mvalcen!     What  may  that  murmur  he. 
Faint  from  the  far  horizon,  pulse  of  a  restless  sea? 

HAVING  outlined  the  movements  of  the  co-operat- 
ing forces  up  to  the  time  of  the  appearance  on 
the  field  of  General  Terry's  column,  we  may  now 
turn  to  the  latter,  as  it  was  with  this  body  that  Captain 
Marsh  was  chiefly  identified.  By  reason  of  the  terrible 
disaster  which  overwhelmed  it  at  the  climax  of  the  cam- 
paign, Terry's  column  has  received  far  more  attention 
from  historians  and  been  the  subject  of  more  popular 
interest,  than  any  other  of  the  strategical  units  in  the 
operations  of  1876.  Though  the  record  of  its  movements 
stands  out  so  prominently  as  to  quite  overshadow  those  of 
the  others,  this  force  was  smaller  in  point  of  numbers 
than  that  of  Crook.  The  greater  part  of  it  assembled 
at  Fort  Lincoln,  early  in  May  and  consisted  of  the  entire 
twelve  troops  of  the  7th  Cavalry,  under  Lieut.-Col.  George 
A.  Custer,  two  companies  of  the  17th  and  one  of  the  6th 
Infantry,  forty  Ree  scouts  and  a  battery  of  three  Gatling 
guns,  manned  by  soldiers  of  the  20th  Infantry  and  com- 
manded by  Lieutenant  Low  of  that  regiment.  One  battal- 
ion of  the  6th  Infantry,  comprising  Companies  B,  C,  D, 

233 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


and  I,  under  Maj.  Orlando  H.  Moore,  was  to  join  them  on 
the  Yellowstone,  the  entire  expedition  being  under  Briga- 
dier-General Terry,  commanding  the  Department  of  Da- 
kota. Most  of  the  7th  Cavalry  had  been  in  garrison  at 
Forts  Lincoln  and  Rice  during  the  preceding  winter,  while 
the  infantry  companies  had  been  occupying  other  of  the 
river  posts.  General  Sheridan  was  loath  to  withdraw  so 
many  men  from  these  garrisons,  as  it  left  several  of  the 
forts  almost  defenseless,  but  the  need  was  so  urgent  for 
dealing  the  hostiles  a  decisive  blow  that  he  felt  it  impera- 
tive to  put  every  available  man  into  the  field.  The  force, 
without  Moore,  was  950  strong. 

A  strange  feeling  of  foreboding  seemed  to  hover  over 
the  frontier  that  spring.  Though  no  one  knew  posi- 
tively that  the  Indians  in  the  field  were  any  more  numer- 
ous than  they  had  been  for  years  past,  mysterious  excite- 
ment prevailed  among  those  about  the  agencies,  and  a 
few  observant  persons  noticed  as  the  spring  wore  on  that 
the  able-bodied  young  warriors  grew  daily  less  numerous 
in  these  peaceful  camps,  while  the  old  men  and  the  women 
and  children  remained  as  before.  But  the  soldiers  who 
were  to  march  to  the  Yellowstone  laughed  at  such  dis- 
quieting rumors,  for,  as  always,  they  felt  themselves 
amply  able  to  deal  with  any  hostile  force  in  existence. 

A  short  time  before  the  expedition  was  to  start.  General 
Custer  and  his  wife  returned  to  Fort  Lincoln  from  the 
East,  where  they  had  been  spending  the  winter,  and  he 
resumed  command  of  his  regiment.  The  7th  was  in 
splendid  fighting  trim  when,  with  the  battery,  it  marched 

234 


Custer  to  the  Front 


out  from  Fort  Lincoln  on  the  morning  of  May  17th, 
bound  for  the  Yellowstone  at  the  mouth  of  the  Powder. 
Yet  so  great  was  the  grief  and  anxiety  of  the  wives  whom 
oflBcers  and  soldiers  were  leaving  behind,  that,  in  order  to 
reassure  them,  Custer  paraded  the  regiment  at  the  post 
before  starting.  While  the  band  played  "  Gary  Owen," 
the  valorous  old  regimental  pibroch,  the  troops  marched 
around  the  parade  ground.  Yet  even  the  sight  of  that 
magnificent  body  of  600  warriors  but  partially  allayed  the 
fears  of  the  women,  for  with  the  unerring  intuition  of 
their  sex,  they  felt  impending  evil  in  the  air.  It  was  with 
aching  hearts  and  streaming  eyes  that  they  saw  their 
dear  ones  finally  ride  away  across  the  prairie,  until  the 
dust  from  the  feet  of  the  horses  blurred  them  from  view 
and  the  stirring  strains  of  "The  Girl  I  Left  Behind  Me," 
died  away  into  silence. 

For  several  months  before  the  expedition  left,  the  troops 
had  not  received  their  pay.  A  paymaster  who  had  come 
up  by  steamer  when  the  river  opened,  accompanied  the 
column  on  its  first  day's  march  and  paid  off  the  men  at 
the  evening  bivouac,  returning  to  Fort  Lincoln  next  day. 
This  was  done  in  order  that  the  soldiers  might  have  an 
opportunity  of  saving  their  money,  instead  of  spending  it 
recklessly  to  their  own  loss  and  the  detriment  of  disci- 
pline, as  many  of  them  would  have  done  had  they  received 
it  a  few  days  earlier.  Most  of  this  money  was  still  in 
their  possession  when  the  battle  took  place  five  weeks 
later,  and  a  great  portion  of  it  went  to  swell  the  war  fund 
of  the  Sioux,  along  with  the  other  booty  of  the  Little  Big 

235 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Horn's  bloody  field.  Perhaps  it  would  have  been  better, 
after  all,  if  the  poor  fellows  who  had  earned  it  had  been 
given  a  chance  to  spend  it  in  a  last  good  time,  even  though 
it  passed  through  their  fingers  lightly  and  to  little  purpose. 
The  column  carried  with  it  only  provisions  enough  to 
last  to  the  Powder,  where  a  supply  steamer  had  been 
ordered  to  meet  it.  The  provisions  were  transported  in 
wagons  drawn  by  mules,  and  250  pack  saddles  were  taken 
along  to  be  used  on  these  same  animals  for  carrying  a 
few  days'  rations  at  a  time  when  active  campaigning 
should  commence.  When  the  troops  reached  the  Powder 
on  June  7th,  they  found  awaiting  them  the  steamer  Far 
West,  under  Captain  Grant  Marsh,  which  had  proceeded 
there  from  Stanley's  Stockade  in  obedience  to  orders  sent 
ahead  by  General  Terry.  How  Captain  Marsh  with  the 
Far  West,  instead  of  his  own  steamer  Josephine,  came 
to  be  at  the  Powder,  and  the  events  preceding  his  arrival 
there,  form  a  separate  chapter  in  the  chronicles  of  that 
memorable  summer. 


236 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE    HEROINE   OF   THE   UPPER   RIVEK 

As  speedy  a  craft  as  the  river'd  float. 

She  cindd  buck  iJie  bends  like  a  big  horn  goat. 

THUS  far  in  its  eventful  history,  every  steamboat 
which  had  braved  the  perils  of  the  upper  Yellow- 
stone had  been  commanded  by  Captain  Marsh. 
He  had  consequently  acquired  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  changeful  stream  not  possessed  by  other  navi- 
gators, and  it  was  but  natural  that  General  Sheridan 
should  look  to  him  to  command  the  supply  boat  when 
plans  were  being  formulated  for  the  campaign  of  1876. 
Early  in  the  spring  the  General  notified  Captain  Marsh, 
through  Commodore  Coulson,  that  his  services  would  be 
required  and  requested  him  to  select  a  steamer  adapted 
to  the  work  ahead. 

After  thoroughly  considering  the  situation,  the  captain 
decided  that  of  the  several  boats  of  the  Coulson  Packet 
Company  at  his  disposal,  the  Far  West  would  be  the  most 
suitable.  She  was  not  so  comfortable  nor  commodious  a 
craft  as  the  Josephine,  but  she  possessed  ample  freight 
carrying  capacity  together  with  light  draught,  and  the 
fact  that  she  could  accommodate  but  few  passengers 
was  one  of  his  chief  reasons  for  selecting  her.     He  knew 

237 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


that  he  was  setting  out  upon  a  summer  of  arduous  work, 
during  which  the  boat  would  be  obhged  to  remain  in  close 
touch  with  the  troops  in  the  field  and  he  did  not  wish  to 
be  burdened  with  many  passengers  for  whose  safety  and 
comfort  he  would  have  to  be  responsible.  From  previous 
experience  he  knew  that  more  or  less  wounded  men  would 
probably  have  to  be  accommodated  from  time  to  time, 
whose  presence  would  inconvenience  any  idle  pleasure 
seekers  on  board.  The  absence  of  a  large  cabin  further- 
more rendered  the  Far  West  a  very  manageable  boat  in 
the  high  winds  which  often  prevailed  in  northern  Dakota 
and  Montana  during  the  summer  months,  for  it  had  no 
"  Texas  "  and  its  short  upper  works  offered  little  resistance 
to  the  wind. 

The  Far  West  had  been  built  for  the  Coulsons  at  Pitts- 
burg in  1870.  She  was  190  feet  long,  33  feet  beam  and 
her  draught,  when  loaded  to  her  full  capacity  of  400  tons,* 
was  4  feet,  6  inches,  while  unloaded  she  drew  20  inches. 
Thirty  passengers  were  all  her  cabin  could  accommodate. 
Her  motive  power  consisted  of  two  fifteen-inch  diameter 
engines  of  five-foot  piston  stroke,  built  by  the  Herbertson 
Engine  Works  of  Brownsville,  Pa.,  and  she  carried  three 
boilers.  She  was  also  provided  with  two  steam  capstans, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  bow,  being  the  first  boat  ever  built 
with  more  than  one,  though  afterward  all  Missouri  River 
steamers  were  similarly  equipped.  Light,  strong  and 
speedy,  she  was  eminently  a  vessel  for  hard  and  continu- 

♦The  Quartermaster  General's  report  for  1876-77  gives  her  exact 
tonnage  as  397.81  tons. 

238 


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The  Heroine  of  the  Upper  River 


ous  service.  During  her  long  tour  of  duty  that  summer 
the  Government  paid  $360.00  per  day  for  her  use. 

At  Yankton,  where  the  Far  West  had  spent  the  winter, 
she  began  loading  with  Government  stores  for  Fort  Lin- 
coln and  the  troops  in  the  field  as  soon  as  she  could  be 
brought  to  the  levee  after  the  ice  went  out,  and  with  a  full 
cargo  she  left  Yankton  about  the  middle  of  May.  Her 
officers,  who  remained  with  her  throughout  the  summer, 
were  as  follows :  Grant  Marsh,  captain  and  pilot;  Dave 
Campbell,  pilot;  Ben  Thompson,  mate;  George  Foulk 
and  John  Hardy,  engineers;  and  Walter  Burleigh,  clerk. 
The  trip  to  Fort  Lincoln  was  quick  and  uneventful,  and 
she  reached  the  post  on  May  27th,  to  find  that  the  expe- 
dition had  started  for  the  Yellowstone  ten  days  before. 

The  few  persons  remaining  at  the  fort,  including  the 
families  of  the  absent  troops,  hailed  the  appearance  of  the 
boat  with  rejoicing.  It  was  the  first  break  in  the  mo- 
notony of  their  existence  since  the  departure  of  the  column, 
and  the  day  of  her  arrival  was  treated  by  them  as  a  holi- 
day. The  wives  of  the  officers  in  Custer's  regiment  all 
came  down  to  the  river  and  made  themselves  at  home 
on  the  boat  while  she  was  unloading,  as  was  customary 
at  the  isolated  frontier  posts.  Captain  Marsh  was  busy 
throughout  the  morning  superintending  the  discharge  of 
cargo,  but  he  instructed  the  steward  to  prepare  as  dainty 
a  luncheon  as  the  larder  of  the  boat  would  afford,  and 
spread  it  in  the  small  cabin  for  the  ladies. 

When  informed  of  this  pleasant  attention,  they  were 
much  pleased  and  accepted  it  gratefully.     Before  they  took 

239 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


their  seats,  Mrs.  Custer  sent  to  Captain  Marsh  an  in- 
vitation to  preside  at  the  table,  which  he,  being  very 
busy,  had  not  intended  doing.  But  he  heeded  her  urgent 
request  and,  hastily  making  himself  as  presentable  as 
possible,  joined  them  at  the  board.  Mrs.  Custer  and 
Mrs.  Algernon  E.  Smith,  wife  of  a  lieutenant  in  the  7th, 
with  whom  Captain  Marsh  was  unacquainted,  seated 
themselves  beside  him  and  were  at  particular  pains  to 
treat  him  cordially.  When  the  agreeable  meal  was  con- 
cluded and  the  captain  was  about  to  withdraw,  Mrs. 
Custer  and  Mrs.  Smith  took  him  aside  and  asked  him 
if  they  might  accompany  the  boat  to  the  Yellowstone, 
Mrs.  Custer  stating  that  her  husband  had  authorized  her 
to  go  if  Captain  Marsh  was  willing. 

The  captain  was  much  taken  aback  at  this  request, 
as  under  the  circumstances  he  believed  that  such  a  trip 
would  be  both  dangerous  and  uncomfortable  for  them. 
He  pointed  this  out,  showing  them  how  limited  were  the 
accommodations  of  the  Far  West  and  what  inconveniences 
they  would  have  to  put  up  with.  As  they  still  remained 
undiscouraged,  he  at  last  fell  back  upon  a  feeble  subter- 
fuge and  mendaciously  expressed  regret  that  he  had  not 
brought  his  own  comfortable  boat,  the  Josephine,  de- 
claring that  if  he  had,  he  would  gladly  take  them  along. 
Finally  seeing  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  gain  his 
consent,  the  ladies  reluctantly  gave  up  their  plan,  though 
with  evident  disappointment.  It  was  well  that  the  cap- 
tain stood  firm,  for  had  he  yielded  to  their  wishes  through 
a  mistaken  sense  of  courtesy  and  allowed  them  to  go,  all 

240 


The  Heroine  of  the  Upper  River 


the  heart-breaking  suspense  and  horror  of  those  days  so 
soon  to  follow,  might  well  have  bereft  them  of  reason. 

During  the  afternoon  the  supplies  waiting  at  the  fort 
for  the  cavalry  were  taken  on  board,  consisting  of  forage 
such  as  oats  and  bran,  commissary  goods,  medical  sup- 
plies, tents,  tarpaulins  and  other  quartermaster's  stores, 
and  small  arms  ammunition.  The  total  weight  of  the 
new  cargo  was  about  200  tons,  as  much  as  it  was  safe  to 
carry  into  the  Yellowstone,  since  it  brought  the  boat  to  a 
draught  of  thirty  inches  or  more.  The  next  morning  the 
Far  West  started  up  the  river.  At  Fort  Buford  the  escort 
came  on  board,  consisting  of  Company  B  of  the  6th  in- 
fantry; Captain  Stephen  Baker,  commanding,  and  John 
A.  Carlin,  1st  Lieutenant.  The  company  numbered 
about  sixty  men,  and  they  made  their  quarters  as  usual 
on  the  main  deck,  the  officers  taking  cabins  above.  The 
other  three  companies  of  the  battalion,  under  Major 
Moore,  had  already  marched  up  the  east  bank  of  the 
Yellowstone  for  Stanley's  Stockade.  The  Far  West  at 
once  followed,  and  in  a  few  days  reached  the  rendezvous 
to  find  Major  Moore  and  his  command  already  encamped 
there. 

The  Major  had  received  despatches  from  General 
Gibbon,  who  was  coming  down  the  left  bank  of  the  river, 
and  on  the  arrival  of  the  Far  West  he  forwarded  them, 
as  well  as  one  from  himself,  to  General  Terry.  His 
courier  traveled  eastward  along  the  old  Stanley  trail  and 
encountered  Terry  just  west  of  the  Little  Missouri,  still 
several    days'  march    from    the  Yellowstone.     Learning 

241 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


from  the  despatches  the  location  of  Gibbon  and  also  that 
the  supply  steamer  had  arrived,  Terry  diverted  the  march 
of  his  troops  up  the  valley  of  Beaver  Creek  toward  the 
mouth  of  the  Powder,  where  the  junction  with  Gibbon 
could  be  sooner  accomplished,  and  sent  back  instruc- 
tions to  Major  Moore  to  have  the  Far  West  meet  him  there. 
Captain  Marsh  proceeded  thither,  and  tied  to  the  bank 
on  the  7th  of  June. 

Toward  evening  of  that  day,  several  skiffs  were  seen 
floating  down  the  river.  Upon  sighting  the  steamer  they 
pulled  in  and  were  found  to  contain  Major  Brisbin,  Cap- 
tain Clifford  and  others  of  Gibbon's  command — Captain 
Clifford  carrying  despatches  for  General  Terry.  They 
had  floated  thirty  or  forty  miles,  meeting  no  Indians  on 
their  journey.  The  next  morning  while  the  crew  were 
engaged  in  cutting  wood,  a  body  of  horsemen  was  dis- 
cerned rapidly  approaching  through  the  valley  of  the 
Powder.  When  they  drew  up  on  the  bank  they  proved 
to  be  General  Terry  and  his  staff  escorted  by  two  troops 
of  cavalry,  who  had  ridden  down  in  advance  of  the  main 
column,  leaving  the  latter  in  camp  about  twenty  miles 
up  the  Powder.  The  General  immediately  came  on 
board  to  make  his  headquarters,  and  he  gave  Captain 
Marsh  a  cordial  welcome,  congratulating  him  on  his 
prompt  arrival.  After  reading  Captain  Clifford's  de- 
spatches, Terry  sent  couriers  to  Gibbon  with  orders  to 
leave  his  command  and  himself  come  down  to  meet  the 
boat,  which  would  steam  up  until  he  was  encountered. 

The  following  morning  the  Far  West  got  under  way 
242 


k 


The  Heroine  of  the  Upper  River 

and  went  up  until  she  reached  a  point  about  fifteen  miles 
below  the  mouth  of  Tongue  River  where  a  trooper  hailed 
her  from  the  shore.  She  came  in  and  General  Gibbon 
was  found,  accompanied  by  cavalry  and  the  company  of 
twenty-five  mounted  Crow  Indians,  who,  under  Lieut. 
J.  H.  Bradley,  had  served  him  efficiently  as  scouts  during 
his  march  from  Fort  Ellis.  The  two  generals  who  had 
so  long  been  planning  for  the  junction  now  successfully 
accomplished,  greeted  each  other  at  the  bow  of  the  Far 
West  and  then  repaired  to  the  cabin  to  discuss  future  move- 
ments. Finding  that  Gibbon's  main  body  was  resting 
but  a  short  distance  above.  General  Terry  instructed 
Captain  Marsh  to  steam  up  to  their  camping  place.  This 
was  reached  about  noon  and  Terry  invited  all  the  officers 
on  board,  where  a  reunion  affording  opportunity  for 
pleasant  exchange  of  experiences  occurred  between  them 
and  the  members  of  Terry's  staff.  After  lying  at  the 
camp  for  some  two  hours,  Gibbon  and  his  officers  took 
their  leave  and  the  boat  returned  to  the  Powder,  where 
Terry  also  left  for  Custer's  camp,  after  instructing  Captain 
Marsh  to  return  to  Stanley's  Stockade  and  bring  all  the 
supplies  there  up  to  the  Powder,  where  a  new  depot  was 
to  be  established.  He  also  sent  orders  to  Major  Moore  to 
bring  his  troops  to  the  same  point.  By  the  15th  of  June, 
Captain  Marsh  had  accomplished  these  transfers  and  held 
his  boat  at  the  Powder,  ready  for  further  work. 

It  would  be  hard  to  estimate  from  a  military  stand- 
point the  value  of  the  services  already  rendered  to  the 
troops  in  the  field  by  the  Far  West,  slight  as  they  had  been 

243 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


compared  with  those  which  she  was  to  render  later  in  the 
campaign.  In  the  many  accounts  which  have  been 
written  of  that  summer  of  battle,  the  share  of  the  Far 
West  in  the  work  has  been  little  dwelt  upon  unless  we 
except  that  spectacular  portion  of  it  immediately  follow- 
ing the  disaster  on  the  Little  Big  Horn.  Yet  throughout 
the  season  she  was  constantly  employed  in  duties  of  the 
utmost  importance.  She  maintained  a  communication 
between  the  scattered  bodies  of  troops  operating  on 
opposite  sides  of  an  unfordable  river  which  otherwise 
could  hardly  have  been  maintained  at  all;  on  several 
occasions  she  transferred  a  base  of  supply  from  one  point 
to  another,  miles  distant,  in  a  fraction  of  the  time  which 
a  wagon-train  would  have  required,  and  frequently  she 
was  called  upon  to  ferry  from  shore  to  shore,  or  to  trans- 
port up  and  down  stream,  troops  which,  without  her, 
could  not  have  been  brought  to  the  positions  where  they 
were  needed.  Difficult  as  was  campaigning  in  that  ster- 
ile country,  it  would  have  been  infinitely  more  difficult 
if  a  steamer  had  not  been  at  hand,  ready  for  any  kind 
of  work  at  a  moment's  notice.  The  Far  West  was  used 
in  a  half-dozen  different  capacities  by  the  army  during 
its  months  in  the  field;  as  ferry-boat,  despatch-boat, 
patrol-boat,  gun-boat,  transport,  or  hospital-ship,  each 
as  occasion  demanded,  and  in  herself  she  demonstrated 
perfectly  how  valuable  even  a  single  unit  of  floating 
transportation,  vmder  an  intelligent  and  obedient  com- 
mander, may  be  made  to  an  expeditionary  force. 


244 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

STRONG   MEN    AND   TRUE 

The  storm  may  drive  to  bush  and  den 
The  creatures  of  the  field  arul  fen. 
But  neither  storm  nor  darksome  night. 
Nor  ice-bound  stream  nor  Jroivning  height. 
Can  check  or  turn  or  put  to  flight 
TJiese  iron-hearted  men. 

ON  the  morning  of  June  11th,  from  the  camp  of 
the  7th  Cavalry  in  Powder  River  Valley,  Maj. 
Marcus  A.  Reno  with  six  troops,  and  ten  days' 
rations  on  pack  mules,  set  out  to  reconnoiter  the  country 
south  of  the  Yellowstone  from  the  Powder  to  the  Tongue, 
in  search  of  Indian  trails.  North  of  the  Yellowstone, 
Gibbon's  men  were  toiling  back  over  the  road  they  had 
come,  delayed  by  heavy  rains,  but  still  bent  upon  their 
purpose  of  holding  back  the  enemy  from  crossing  if  he 
should  become  alarmed  by  the  movements  of  the  other 
troops.  When  the  Far  West  reached  the  depot  at  the 
Powder  after  her  last  trip  from  Stanley's  Stockade,  she 
found  that  Terry  and  Custer,  with  the  remaining  six 
troops  of  the  7th,  had  come  down  during  her  absence. 
Along  the  river  bank,  where  a  few  days  before  un- 
broken silence  had  reigned,  now  resounded  the  voices  of 
hundreds  of  men,  the  trampling  of  horses  and  all  the  busy 

245 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


hum  of  a  great  military  encampment.  General  Terry 
resumed  his  headquarters  on  the  boat  and  for  the  next 
few  days  it  became  the  center  of  activity  of  the  whole 
campaign.  Back  and  forth  across  its  decks  hurried 
officers  and  soldiers,  Indian  scouts  and  white  frontiers- 
men, whose  names  stand  in  history  and  story  for  courage, 
strength  and  loyalty. 

Among  them  all,  the  dominating  figure  was  that  of 
General  Terry  himself.  Quiet  and  undemonstrative,  he 
sat  hour  after  hour  at  his  desk  in  the  cabin,  poring  over 
maps  and  papers,  consulting  with  the  officers  who  came 
and  went,  working  with  an  energy  which  seemed  tireless 
upon  the  innumerable  problems  of  the  campaign  he  was 
conducting.  The  calm  eyes  which  looked  forth  from  his 
strong,  bearded  face  inspired  in  the  observer  a  sense  of 
confidence  and  securityo  His  brain  seemed  one  capable 
of  grasping  so  firmly  every  phase  of  the  situation,  of  guard- 
ing so  carefully  against  every  danger,  that  his  plans  could 
not  miscarry.  The  military  impulses  of  his  nature  were 
tempered  and  strengthened  by  the  legal  acumen  derived 
from  his  years  of  practice  at  the  bar,  for  Terry  had  not 
been  a  soldier  from  his  youth.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War  he  had  resided  in  Connecticut,  where  he  was 
a  practicing  attorney,  and  he  had  entered  the  Union 
army  as  a  volunteer  in  one  of  the  first  regiments  organized 
by  that  State.  There  was  little  about  him  to  suggest  such 
a  spirit  of  reckless  heroism  as  he  had  displayed  on  that 
January  afternoon  in  1865  when  he  led  his  division  for- 
ward through  the  shattered  palisade  and  across  the  yawn- 

246 


Strong  Men  and  True 


ing  ditch  of  Fort  Fisher,  fighting  hand-to-hand  over  the 
traverses  and  through  the  casemates,  until  he  had  planted 
the  flag  of  the  Union  above  the  greatest  earthwork  fortress 
that  the  modern  world  had  ever  loiown.  He  was  a  man 
whose  words  were  not  many,  but,  once  spoken,  they 
were  remembered.  When  he  praised,  the  praise  was 
merited;  when  he  censured,  it  was  for  grave  cause. 
Though  he  was  not  one  whose  characteristics  suggested 
the  ideal  Indian  fighter,  he  wove  a  plan  of  campaign 
against  the  savage  foe  in  his  front  which  was  almost  fault- 
less in  conception,  and  when  it  was  jeopardized  by  an 
appalling  disaster  in  execution,  he  skillfully  gathered 
together  again  its  broken  threads  and  brought  it  ulti- 
mately to  success. 

Far  different  in  appearance  and  temperament  from 
the  commanding  general  was  that  other  noted  leader 
who  was  a  frequent  visitor  on  board  the  Far  West  during 
those  days.  Indeed,  so  strongly  did  the  brilliant  record 
and  romantic  personality  of  Custer  appeal  to  the  imagi- 
nations of  the  bold  spirits  gathered  in  the  w'arrior  camp, 
that  his  presence  nearly  overshadowed  that  of  his  chief. 
Custer's  tent  was  pitched  on  the  river  bank  but  a  few  feet 
away  from  the  Far  West  and  he  was  on  the  boat  almost 
hourly,  dressed  in  his  picturesque  modification  of  the 
regulation  uniform,  with  flowing  red  tie,  wide-collared 
campaign  shirt  and  broad  felt  hat;  a  costume  the  graceful 
abandon  of  which  made  him  seem  half  the  soldier  and  half 
the  border  scout.  He  was  a  figure  to  attract  attention 
anywhere.     His  form  was  straight  and  slender,  his  speech 

247 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


quick,  his  movements  restless.  He  had  been  disap- 
pointed when  he  first  heard  of  the  arrival  of  the  Far  West 
to  find  that  his  wife  was  not  on  board,  but  he  did  not 
permit  this  to  affect  his  pleasant  relations  with  Cap- 
tain Marsh,  whose  reasons  for  not  bringing  her  he  well 
understood. 

It  was  noticeable  at  this  time  that  Custer's  usually 
buoyant  spirits  were  somewhat  depressed,  for  he  was 
suffering  under  the  displeasure  of  several  persons  high 
in  National  authority.  When,  during  the  previous  year, 
the  campaign  had  first  been  planned,  it  was  intended 
that  Custer  should  have  chief  command  of  the  eastern 
column.  But  during  the  winter,  while  visiting  in  Wash- 
ington, he  had  become  involved  in  a  diflSculty  with  Presi- 
dent Grant  and  Secretary  of  War  Belknap.  In  conse- 
quence of  it  the  President,  in  the  spring  of  1876,  was  on 
the  point  of  withholding  him  from  any  participation  in 
the  campaign.  But  at  the  earnest  solicitations  of  General 
Sheridan  and  General  Terry,  who  felt  his  services  to  be 
indispensable,  he  was  permitted  to  command  his  own 
regiment,  though  not  the  entire  column.  The  wound 
thus  inflicted  upon  his  proudly  sensitive  spirit  caused  him 
to  be  more  eager  even  than  usual  to  win  fresh  laurels  on 
the  battlefield  and,  it  has  often  been  urged,  contributed 
in  no  small  degree  to  the  impetuosity  with  which  he  flung 
himself  upon  the  enemy  at  the  first  opportunity. 

To  the  Far  West  often  came  also  General  Custer's 
brother.  Captain  Tom  Custer,  as  well  as  Captains  Keogh 
and   Yates,   Lieutenant    Calhoun,   and   others    of  those 

248 


Strong  Men  and  True 


gallant  troop  officers  who,  a  few  days  later,  were  destined 
to  fall  with  smoking  revolvers  clutched  in  their  dying 
hands,  on  the  barren  ridges  above  the  Little  Big  Horn. 
Maj.  James  S.  Brisbin,  Gibbon's  commander  of  cavalry, 
was  another  visitor  to  the  boat  at  different  times  through- 
out the  summer.  He  was  an  elderly  officer,  whose  deep 
interest  in  the  agricultural  possibilities  of  eastern  Mon- 
tana, constantly  manifested  in  conversation,  earned  for 
him  from  the  soldiers  the  good-natured  sobriquet  of 
"Grasshopper  Jim." 

In  addition  to  the  professional  soldiers  there  were  a 
number  of  others  as  brave,  though  they  did  not  wear  the 
uniform  of  the  regular  service.  There  was  Frank  Girard, 
the  noted  scout;  there  was  "Lonesome  Charlie"  Rey- 
nolds, the  remarkable  guide  and  hunter  who  had  done 
such  good  work  on  the  Josephine  during  the  previous 
summer.  The  latter  was  Custer's  favorite  scout  and 
the  General  relied  upon  his  judgment  implicitly.  There 
was  Mark  Kellogg,  the  correspondent  representing  the 
Bismarck  Tribune,  and,  through  that  paper,  also  the  New 
York  Herald,  a  faithful  worker  and  graphic  writer,  whose 
detailed  descriptions  of  events  up  to  the  time  of  the  battle 
in  which  he  fell  close  beside  Custer,  are  now  among  the 
most  reliable  data  in  existence  on  the  history  of  that  cam- 
paign. Kellogg  boarded  the  Far  West  at  Bismarck  and 
was  the  guest  of  Captain  Marsh  on  the  up  trip,  making 
his  quarters  on  the  boat  until  the  columns  separated  on 
June  22nd.  Charlie  Reynolds  also  occupied  a  cabin  until 
that  day,  for  he  was  suffering  great  pain  from  a  felon  on 

249 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


his  left  hand,  and  was  under  the  care  of  Doctor  Porter, 
one  of  the  surgeons  of  the  7th  Cavahy. 

As  always,  General  Custer  had  brought  guests  with 
him  from  the  East  who  were  anxious  to  see  and  enjoy  the 
wild  West  under  his  skillful  guidance.  This  time  they 
were  his  nephew,  Autie  Reed,  and  his  younger  brother, 
Boston.  The  latter,  a  light-hearted,  companionable 
young  fellow  whom  everyone  affectionately  called  "Boss," 
became  a  great  friend  of  Captain  Marsh  after  they  met 
at  Powder  River,  and  the  captain  offered  him  a  cabin 
and  asked  him  to  remain  on  the  boat  as  long  as  he  wished. 
"Boss"  gladly  accepted  the  invitation,  for  it  was  cold 
comfort  sleeping  under  a  dog-tent  on  the  prairie  through 
the  chill  Montana  nights. 

Of  Captain  Marsh  himself,  who  so  often  welcomed  to 
the  decks  of  his  vessel  the  members  of  this  famous  com- 
pany, a  few  appreciative  words  from  General  Edward  S. 
Godfrey,  U.  S.  A.,*  lately  commandant  of  the  School  of 
Application  for  Cavalry  and  Field  Artillery,  Fort  Riley, 
Kansas,  but  at  that  time  one  of  Custer's  troop  com- 
manders, may  be  fittingly  inserted  here  as  indicating  the 
place  which  the  captain  held  among  his  associates  dur- 
ing those  busy  weeks  of  preparation. 

"He  was,  indeed,  a  familiar  figure,"  says  General 
Godfrey,  "and  his  presence  was  always  welcomed  in  any 
gathering  of  the  officers  at  their  bivouacs  and  on  board 
his  boat.  When  he  was  at  leisure  he  was  sure  to  be  sur- 
rounded by  a  crowd,  to  each  of  whom  he  was  a  friend  and 
*  Contained  in  a  recent  letter  to  the  author. 

250 


Strong  Men  and  True 


companion.  He  was  bluff,  frank,  original,  honest  and 
generous.  He  was  intense,  or,  in  modern  parlance, 
strenuous.  In  all  that  pertained  to  his  boat  and  crew  he 
looked  to  their  best  interest;  there  was  no  trifling.  When 
he  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Government,  and  he  generally 
was  on  these  expeditions,  he  never  hesitated  in  any  emer- 
gency to  take  all  chances  to  serve  it,  and  his  rare  good 
judgment  carried  him  and  his  charges  through  many  a 
tight  place.  Of  course,  he  knew  the  Government  was 
behind  him." 


251 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

THE   LAST  COUNCIL   OF  WAR 

And  made  them  ready,  in  the  shock  of  war 
To  meet  the  savage  and  triumphant  hordes 
Of  Crazy  Horse  and  Sitting  Bull  and  Gall. 

ON  the  morning  of  the  15th,  General  Custer,  with 
his  six  troops  and  one  GatHng  gun,  marched 
for  the  Tongue,  leaving  Major  Moore  at  the 
Powder  with  the  infantry  and  all  the  wagons.  Custer 
took  with  him  a  train  of  pack  mules  loaded  with  pro- 
visions, while  the  Far  West,  carrying  an  ample  reserve 
supply,  followed  up  the  river,  with  General  Terry  and 
staff  on  board.  The  cavalry  reached  the  Tongue  on  the 
16th,  where  the  boat  rejoined,  and  all  remained  until  the 
19th,  impatiently  waiting  for  news  from  Reno.  While 
they  were  lying  there  through  the  17th,  Crook  was  fight- 
ing his  stubborn  battle  on  the  Rosebud,  though,  of  course, 
no  one  in  Custer's  camp  knew  of  it  or  could  dream  that 
one  hundred  miles  away  events  were  transpiring  which 
would  so  deeply  affect  their  own  fate. 

The  news  from  Reno  came  about  sunset  of  the  19th, 
in  the  form  of  a  despatch  in  which  he  stated  that  he  had 
scouted  to  the  Rosebud  and  beyond  and  had  found  a 
heavy  Indian  trail.  After  following  it  until  he  was  sat- 
isfied that  it  led  to  the  Big  Horn,  he  had  left  it  and  swung 

252 


The  Last  Council  of  War 


off  to  the  Rosebud  again,  descending  that  stream  to  its 
mouth,  from  which  point  he  was  now  returning  to  the 
Tongue.  General  Terry  at  once  sent  an  order  to  him 
to  halt  and  await  the  arrival  of  Custer  with  the  remainder 
of  the  regiment.  The  latter  resumed  its  march  westward 
that  night  and  after  reuniting  with  Reno,  the  whole  com- 
mand bivouacked  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud  on  the 
morning  of  the  21st.  Across  the  Yellowstone,  General 
Gibbon's  troops  were  lying  in  the  camp  which  they  had 
been  occupying  for  over  a  week,  sending  out  patrols  along 
the  left  shore  and  scouts  along  the  right,  and  waiting  for 
the  Far  West  to  arrive  and  place  them  in  communication 
with  General  Terry. 

The  information  now  at  hand,  gathered  by  Reno  and 
by  Gibbon's  scouts,  seemed  to  indicate  that  not  more 
than  eight  hundred  or  a  thousand  warriors  were  in  the 
hostile  camps.  Lieutenant  Bradley  with  his  untiring 
Crows,  scouting  through  the  hills  along  the  Rosebud  on 
May  27th,  had  discovered  a  Sioux  village  of  several  hun- 
dred lodges  whose  occupants  were  engaged  in  hunting, 
as  was  amply  evident  from  the  number  of  buffalo  carcasses 
scattered  over  the  country  from  which  the  hides  had 
been  stripped  for  lodge  skins.  Major  Reno,  three  weeks 
later,  had  come  upon  the  same  camping  place,  finding  it 
abandoned.  But  he  had  counted  nearly  400  extinct  lodge 
fires,  indicating  that  the  village  had  contained  about  800 
warriors  upon  the  usual  calculation  of  two  men  to  each 
lodge.  From  the  deserted  camp  led  the  trail  which  he 
had  followed  toward  the  Big  Horn. 

253 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Since  neither  Reno  nor  Bradley  had  discovered  other 
camps,  General  Terry,  as  well  as  his  subordinates,  con- 
cluded that  this  body  of  hostiles  was  the  only  one  in  the 
country  and  he  made  his  dispositions  accordingly.  The 
event  proved  his  conclusion  to  be  very  far  from  correct, 
but  he  had  no  means  of  knowing  it.  It  was  at  about  this 
time  that  General  Sheridan  forwarded  him  advices  that 
nearly  1,800  lodges  had  departed  for  the  Big  Horn 
country  from  the  Missouri  River  agencies,*  but  Terry 
did  not  receive  them  until  some  days  after  the  Little  Big 
Horn  battle,  nor  did  he  hear  until  that  time  of  Crook's 
defeat  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Rosebud.  Hence  he 
could  not  imagine  that  another  Sioux  army  had  joined 
the  one  already  in  his  front,  and  much  less  that  the  enemy 
was  now  led  by  a  general  capable  of  grasping  fully  the  ad- 
vantages of  interior  lines  for  defeating  his  opponents  in 
detail;  the  same  advantages  which  were  seized  by  Napo- 
leon before  Paris  and  by  "Stonewall"  Jackson  in  the 
Valley  of  Virginia. 

The  main  position  of  the  Sioux,  however,  was  now 
approximately  located,  the  expeditionary  columns  were 
united,  and  everything  was  ready  for  the  striking  of  that 
swift  and  decisive  blow  which  was  the  object  of  the  cam- 
paign. The  activity  on  board  the  Far  West  was  re- 
doubled.    Captain  Marsh  had  started  from  the  Tongue 

*  In  his  Century  article.  General  Godfrey  said:  "Information  was 
despatched  from  General  Sheridan  that  from  one  agency  alone  about 
eighteen  hundred  lodges  had  set  out  to  join  the  hostile  camp."  General 
Godfrey  has  advised  the  author,  however,  that  this  was  "  a  camp  rumor. 
Sheridan's  despatch,  I  believe,  was  that  about  eighteen  hundred  lodges 
had  been  reported  absent  from  the  agencies." — jf.  M.  H. 

254 


The  Last  Council  of  War 


with  General  Terry  when  the  cavahy  left  there  and  he 
outstripped  them,  reaching  the  Rosebud  on  the  morning 
of  the  21st,  early.  The  boat  landed  at  Gibbon's  camp 
and  took  that  officer  on  board  for  a  conference  to  be  held 
between  himself,  Terry  and  Custer  as  soon  as  the  latter 
should  be  up,  while  Gibbon's  troops  were  immediately 
put  in  motion  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn,  their 
commander  intending  to  join  them  later.  About  noon 
the  long  line  of  the  7th  Cavalry  appeared,  marching 
across  the  tableland  and  into  the  valley,  where  it  halted. 
The  boat  crossed  to  their  camp  and  toward  evening 
General  Custer  came  on  board. 

Then  ensued  in  the  cabin  of  the  Far  West  that  memor- 
able council  of  war  between  the  three  veteran  generals 
at  which  were  determined  the  details  of  the  offensive 
movement  against  the  hostiles.  Gibbon's  command  was 
to  continue  the  march  already  begun  up  the  north  bank 
of  the  Yellowstone  until  it  should  reach  a  point  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn,  where  it  would  halt  and 
wait  for  the  boat.  The  latter  was  then  to  ferry  it  across 
after  which  it  would  move  up  the  Big  Horn  to  co-operate 
with  Custer  in  attacking  the  Indian  villages.  On  his 
part,  Custer  was  to  march  up  the  Rosebud  until  he  found 
the  trail  discovered  by  Reno.  This  he  was  to  follow  west- 
ward, scouting  carefully  to  his  right  and  left  for  signs  of 
Indians,  and  to  so  time  his  movements  that  he  would 
reach  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  enemy  on  the  Big 
Horn  about  the  26th,  at  which  time  it  was  expected  that 
Gibbon  would  have  arrived  in  the  same  neighborhood 

^55 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


from  the  north.  The  written  orders  given  to  General 
Custer  by  General  Terry  after  the  conference  on  the  Far 
West,  though  they  have  been  so  often  quoted  before  as 
to  be  familiar  to  every  student  of  that  campaign,  may  be 
referred  to  again  as  most  clearly  indicating  what  he  was 
expected  to  accomplish.     They  were  as  follows: 

"  Camp  at  Mouth  of  Rosebud  River,  Montana  Territory, 

June  22d,  1876. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Custer,  7th  Cavalry. 
Colonel : — 
The  Brigadier-General  commanding  directs  that,  as  soon  as 
your  regiment  can  be  made  ready  for  the  march,  you  will  pro- 
ceed up  the  Rosebud  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians  whose  trail  was 
discovered  by  Major  Reno  a  few  days  since.  It  is,  of  course, 
impossible  to  give  you  any  definite  instructions  in  regard  to  this 
movement,  and  were  it  not  impossible  to  do  so  the  Department 
Commander  places  too  much  confidence  in  your  zeal,  energy, 
and  ability  to  wish  to  impose  upon  you  precise  orders  which 
might  hamper  your  action  when  nearly  in  contact  with  the 
enemy.  He  will,  however,  indicate  to  you  his  own  views  of 
what  your  action  should  be,  and  he  desires  that  you  should  con- 
form to  them  unless  you  shall  see  sufficient  reason  for  departing 
from  them.  He  thinks  that  you  should  proceed  up  the  Rose- 
bud until  you  ascertain  definitely  the  direction  in  which  the 
trail  above  spoken  of  leads.  Should  it  be  found  (as  it  appears 
almost  certain  that  it  will  be  found)  to  turn  towards  the  Little 
Horn,  he  thinks  that  you  should  still  proceed  southward,  perhaps 
as  far  as  the  headwaters  of  the  Tongue,  and  then  turn  towards 
the  Little  Horn,  feeling  constantly,  however,  to  your  left,  so  as 
to  preclude  the  possibility  of  the  escape  of  the  Indians  to  the 
south  or  southeast  by  passing  around  your  left  flank.  The 
column  of  Colonel  Gibbon  is  now  in  motion  for  the  mouth  of 
the  Big  Horn.  As  soon  as  it  reaches  that  point  it  will  cross  the 
Yellowstone  and  move  up  at  least  as  far  as  the  forks  of  the  Big 
and  Little  Horns.     Of  course,  its  future  movements  must  be 

256 


The  Last  Council  of  War 


controlled  by  circumstances  as  they  arise,  but  it  is  hoped  that 
the  Indians,  if  upon  the  Little  Horn,  may  be  so  nearly  inclosed 
by  the  two  columns  that  their  escape  will  be  impossible. 

The  Department  Commander  desires  that  on  your  way  up 
the  Rosebud  you  should  thoroughly  examine  the  upper  part  of 
Tulloch's  Creek,  and  that  you  should  endeavor  to  send  a  scout 
through  to  Colonel  Gibbon's  column,  with  information  of  the 
result  of  your  examination.  The  lower  part  of  this  creek  will  be 
examined  by  a  detachment  from  Colonel  Gibbon's  command. 
The  supply  steamer  will  be  })ushed  up  the  Big  Horn  as  far  as 
the  forks  if  the  river  is  found  to  be  navigable  for  that  distance, 
and  the  Department  Commander,  who  will  accompany  the 
column  of  Colonel  Gibbon,  desires  you  to  report  to  him  there 
not  later  than  the  expiration  of  the  time  for  which  your  troops 
are  rationed,  unless  in  the  meantime  you  receive  further  orders. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

E.  W.  Smith, 

Captain  18th  Infantry 
Acting  Assistant  Adjutant-General." 

It  is  not  desired  here  to  enter  into  any  discussion  of  the 
unfortunate  controversy  which  has  been  waged  by  various 
authorities  ever  since  the  battle  of  the  Little  Big  Horn, 
as  to  whether  General  Custer  did  or  did  not  obey  these 
orders.  But  the  opinion  of  Captain  Marsh  on  the  sub- 
ject is  worthy  of  record  because  he  was  entirely  familiar 
with  conditions  at  the  time  of  Custer's  departure  and, 
though  he  was  not  present  at  the  conference  in  the  cabin, 
he  was,  of  course,  on  the  boat  and  immediately  afterward 
gathered  from  oflBcers  the  general  purport  of  the  plans 
laid.  General  Terry,  in  a  subsequent  official  report,  said 
that  during  the  conference  he  verbally  informed  Custer 
that  Gibbon's  column  would  probably  reach  the  mouth  of 

257 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  Little  Big  Horn  on  June  26th.  Captain  Marsh  is 
firmly  of  the  opinion  that  Terry  did  not  desire  nor  intend 
Custer  to  give  battle  to  the  Indians  before  that  date. 
Indeed,  after  the  disastrous  culmination  of  the  movement, 
General  Terry  personally  told  the  captain  that  such  was 
the  case,  and  both  he  and  General  Gibbon  have  so  stated 
in  their  official  reports  of  the  campaign. 

Lieut  .James  H.  Bradley*  has  voiced  in  his  journal 
the  sentiment  then  current  in  the  camps  of  both  Gibbon 
and  Custer,  relative  to  the  intentions  of  the  latter  officer. 
Writing  in  this  journal,  or  diary,  on  Wednesday,  June 
21st,  he  says: 

" .  .  .  though  it  is  General  Terry's  expectation  that  we 
will  arrive  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Sioux  village  about  the 
same  time  and  assist  each  other  in  the  attack,  it  is  understood 
that  if  Custer  arrives  first  he  is  at  liberty  to  attack  at  once  if  he 
deems  prudent.  We  have  little  hope  of  being  in  at  the  death, 
as  Custer  will  undoubtedly  exert  himself  to  the  utmost  to  get 
there  first  and  win  all  the  laurels  for  himself  and  his  regiment. 
He  is  provided  with  Indian  scouts,  but  from  the  superior  knowl- 
edge possessed  by  the  Crows  of  the  country  he  is  to  traverse  it 
was  decided  to  furnish  him  with  a  part  of  ours,  and  I  was  directed 
to  make  a  detail  for  that  purpose.     I  selected  my  six  best  men, 

*  Lieutenant  Bradley's  Journal  has  been  constantly  referred  to  in 
the  preparation  of  the  account  of  the  Little  Big  Horn  campaign.  The 
Journal,  which  has  been  published  in  Vol.  II  of  the  Contributions  to 
the  Historical  Society  of  Montana,  contains  a  detailed  record  of  the 
movements  of  General  Gibbon's  column  from  the  time  it  left  Fort  Ellis 
until  it  arrived  on  Custer's  battlefield.  It  teems  with  interesting  notes 
upon  the  early  history  of  Montana  and  of  the  Indian  tribes  residing 
therein.  lieutenant  Bradley,  who  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  the  Big 
Hole,  Montana,  in  1877,  was  a  gallant  soldier,  a  keen  observer  and  a 
graphic  writer,  and  his  literary  works,  though  left  in  a  very  incomplete 
state  by  his  untimely  death,  are  yet  among  Montana's  most  valuable 
historical  documents. — J.  M.  H. 

258 


The  Last  Council  of  War 


and  they  joined  him  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud.  Our  guide, 
Mitch  Bouyer,*  accompanies  him  also.  This  leaves  us  wholly 
without  a  guide,  while  Custer  has  one  of  the  very  best  that  the 
country  affords.  Surely  he  is  being  afforded  every  facility  to 
make  a  successful  pursuit. 

At  the  conference.  Gibbon's  four  troops  of  the  2nd 
Cavalry,  under  Major  Brisbin,  were  offered  to  Custer. 
He  refused  them,  stating  that  any  Indian  force  which 
would  be  too  big  for  the  7th  Cavalry  would  be  too  big 
for  the  7th  Cavalry  and  these  four  troops.  He  was  urged 
to  take  the  three  Catling  guns  under  Lieutenant  Low, 
which,  though  already  across  the  river  and  moving  up  to 
join  Gibbon,  could  have  been  easily  recalled  had  Custer 
so  elected.  He  declined  them,  declaring  that  they  would 
only  impede  his  movements.  The  conference  lasted 
until  late  in  the  evening  and  at  its  conclusion  Terry  and 
Gibbon  walked  out  with  Custer  to  his  tent,  which  was 
pitched  near  by,  where  they  remained  only  a  few  minutes, 
returning  to  sleep  in  their  cabins. 

As  soon  as  they  had  departed,  Custer  caused  officer's 
call  to  be  sounded,  and  when  his  staff  and  line  were  assem- 
bled he  gave  them  their  instructions.  These  were  to  have 
the  pack  mules  carry  fifteen  days'  rations  and  fifty  rounds 
of  reserve   carbine   ammunition   for   each   man.     Every 

*  Bouyer  was  one  of  the  noted  characters  of  Montana's  early  mining 
days.  He  was  a  man  perfectly  reckless  of  danger,  as  was  made  plain 
one  day  during  Gibbon's  march  down  the  Yellowstone.  A  party  of 
about  a  dozen  Sioux  warriors  appeared  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
river,  without,  however,  discovering  Gibbon's  men.  Bouyer  stripped 
himself  naked  and,  unarmed,  swam  the  river  to  attempt  the  capture  of 
some  of  the  Indians'  horses.  He  had  almost  succeeded  when  they  de- 
tected him  creeping  up,  but  he  made  his  escape  as  he  had  come,  un- 
harmed.— J.  M.  H. 

259 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


trooper  was  to  carry  one  hundred  rounds  of  carbine  and 
twenty-four  rounds  of  pistol  ammunition  in  his  saddle- 
bags and  twelve  pounds  of  oats  for  his  horse.  The  Gen- 
eral seemed  in  an  irritable  frame  of  mind  that  night,  and 
Lieutenant  Godfrey,  commanding  K  Troop,  has  the  fol- 
lowing to  say  concerning  his  further  instructions :  * 

"The  pack-mules  sent  out  with  Reno's  command  were  badly 
used  up,  and  promised  seriously  to  embarrass  the  expedition. 
General  Custer  recommended  that  some  extra  forage  be  carried 
on  the  pack-mules.  In  endeavoring  to  carry  out  this  recom- 
mendation some  troop  commanders  foresaw  the  difficulties,  and 
told  the  General  that  some  of  the  mules  would  certainly  break 
down,  especially  if  the  extra  forage  was  packed.  He  replied  in 
an  excited  manner,  quite  unusual  with  him: 

"  'Well,  gentlemen,  you  may  carry  what  supplies  you  please; 
you  will  be  held  responsible  for  your  companies.  The  extra 
forage  was  only  a  suggestion,  but  this  fact  bear  in  mind,  we  will 
follow  the  trail  for  fifteen  days  unless  we  catch  them  before  that 
time  expires,  no  matter  how  far  it  may  take  us  from  our  base  of 
supplies;  we  may  not  see  the  supply  steamer  again,'  and,  turning 
as  he  was  about  to  enter  his  tent,  he  added,  'You  had  better 
carry  along  an  extra  supply  of  salt;  we  may  have  to  live  on  horse 
meat  before  we  get  through.' 

"He  was  taken  at  his  word,  and  an  extra  supply  of  salt  was 
carried."! 

*  "Custer's  Last  Battle,"  by  General  Edward  S.  Godfrey,  U.  S.  A., 
Century  Magazine,  Vol.  XLIII,  No.  3. 

t  General  Godfrey,  in  reading  the  manuscript  of  the  above  chapter, 
noted  that  himself  and  Captain  Myles  Moylan,  Troop  A,  were  the  troop 
commanders  who  held  with  General  Custer  the  conversation  regarding 
the  extra  forage  and  salt. — J.  M.  H. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

THE   SEVENTH    MARCHES   INTO   THE   SHADOW 

With  taitered  guixlons  spectral  thin 

Above  their  swaying  ranks, 

With  carbines  swung  and  sabres  slung. 

And  the  gray  dust  on  their  flanks. 

They  march  again  as  they  marched  it  then. 

When  the  red  men  dogged  their  track. 

The  gloom  trail,  the  doom  trail. 

The  trail  they  came  not  back. 

THE  supplies  for  the  7th  Cavalry  were  drawn  from 
the  hold  of  the  Far  West  early  on  the  morning 
of  Thursday,  June  22nd.  It  was  a  beautiful 
morning,  that  one  of  Custer's  start;  such  a  morning  as 
only  the  high  plateaus  of  the  Northwest,  with  their  sweep- 
ing winds  and  invigorating  air,  can  yield.  Over  the 
valley  and  the  rugged  hills  beyond,  the  sparse  vegetation 
of  bunch  grass  and  prickly  pear  took  on  the  appearance 
of  velvet  verdure  until  the  rough  buttes  in  the  distance 
resembled  well-kept  terraces.  Here  and  there  on  the 
bottom  groups  of  buffalo  grazed  quietly,  while  the  swift- 
running  Yellow  stone  sparkled  and  flashed  over  its  gravelly 
bed  and  between  its  wooded  islands,  like  a  mountain 
torrent.  The  cavalry  camp  on  the  river  bank  seemed  a 
puny  thing  and  its  activities  insignificant  in  the  vast  tran- 
quility of  nature. 

261 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Hours  before  sunrise  Captain  Marsh  was  about  direct- 
ing the  discharge  of  cargo  and  keeping  his  thirty  deck- 
hands rushing,  and  when,  at  the  first  streaks  of  dawn, 
the  bugles'  echoing  reveille  roused  the  sleeping  soldiers, 
the  fifteen  days'  supplies  were  ready  for  issue  on  the 
bank.  After  the  bustle  of  breakfast  was  over  the  camp 
quieted  for  a  few  hours,  while  the  men  arranged  their 
belongings  for  the  hard  march  ahead.  A  number,  in- 
cluding the  officers,  seized  the  opportunity  for  writing 
letters  to  dear  ones  at  home.  For  many  of  them,  alas, 
these  were  to  be  the  last  messages  of  love  they  would 
ever  send  on  earth.  Though  the  morning  was  glorious, 
and  though  the  soldiers  were  veterans,  accustomed  to 
hail  the  approach  of  action  with  enthusiasm,  strangely 
enough  a  sense  of  depression  seemed  to  pervade  the  camp 
and  not  a  few  of  the  letters  voiced  this  feeling.  It  was  as 
if  a  premonition  of  coming  catastrophe  was  in  the  men's 
hearts  which  they  could  not  shake  off.  General  Custer 
himself  was  affected  by  it  and  so  were  many  of  his  officers. 

It  is  only  fair  to  say,  however,  that  the  dejected  spirits 
of  several  of  the  gallant  cavalrymen  may  have  resulted 
from  a  more  substantial  cause  than  premonition  of  com- 
ing ill.  This  is  mere  conjecture,  but  the  fact  remains  that 
through  the  small  hours  of  the  previous  night,  more  than 
one  of  them  had  remained  awake  to  attend  a  meeting 
of  absorbing  interest  in  the  cabin  of  the  Far  West.  Cap- 
tain Marsh  was  there,  also  Captain  Tom  Custer,  Lieu- 
tenant Calhoun,  Captain  Crowell,  of  the  6th  Infantry, 
and  others,  and  the  matter  which  kept  them  from  their 

262 


The  Seventh  Marches  Into  the  Shadow 

blankets  on  the  eve  of  a  hard  campaign  was  one  which 
rarely  fails  in  its  attraction  to  an  American — poker.  It 
had  been  a  battle  royal  between  the  different  arms  of  the 
service,  with  fortune  varying  from  one  side  of  the  table 
to  the  other.  Now  the  cavalry  leaped  ahead,  as  if  emulat- 
ing the  rush  of  squadrons  on  the  battlefield ;  now  the  navy, 
as  represented  by  Captain  Marsh,  swept  all  before  it. 
But  in  the  end  the  steady,  plodding  infantry  was  left  in 
sole  possession  of  the  field,  as  so  often  happens  in  actual 
warfare,  and  Captain  Crowell  arose  from  the  board  a 
winner  by  several  thousand  dollars.  Perhaps  the  thought 
of  the  perils  they  were  about  to  face  tended  to  make  the 
participants  reckless,  but,  be  that  as  it  may.  Captain 
Marsh  remembers  that  poker  game  on  the  eve  of  the 
Little  Big  Horn  campaign  as  one  of  the  stiff  est  ever  played 
on  the  rivers,  and  he  has  witnessed  some  wherein  fortunes 
were  won  and  lost. 

Once  during  the  morning,  while  busy  about  his  mani- 
fold duties,  the  captain  came  face  to  face  with  Charlie 
Reynolds.  The  features  of  the  scout  were  haggard  with 
pain  and  the  captain  asked  him  solicitously  how  the 
felon  was  on  his  hand. 

"No  better,"  answered  Reynolds.  "Doctor  Porter 
can't  seem  to  cure  it  and  my  hand  is  no  use." 

"See  here,  Charlie,"  exclaimed  the  captain,  "I  wish 
you  would  give  up  going  with  General  Custer  and  stay 
on  the  boat.  It  will  be  a  hard  march  for  you  in  your 
condition,  and  you  can't  do  any  fighting,  anj'way,  with 
that  hand." 

263 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


The  gallant  fellow  flushed  and  straightened. 

"Captain,"  he  said,  earnestly,  "I've  been  waiting  and 
getting  ready  for  this  expedition  for  two  years  and  I 
would  sooner  be  dead  than  miss  it." 

It  was  useless  to  argue  with  such  a  spirit  and  when  the 
column  left.  Captain  Marsh  regretfully  saw  Reynolds  start 
with  it,  never  to  return. 

Another  friend  whom  he  wished  to  save  from  the  rigors 
of  the  march  was  "Boss"  Custer.  Passing  the  boy's 
cabin  during  the  morning  the  captain  saw  him  writing 
a  letter  to  his  mother,  and  stepped  in.  He  talked  for  a 
few  moments,  pointing  out  to  "  Boss  "  what  an  exhausting 
journey  was  ahead  of  the  7th  Cavalry,  and  telling  him 
how  welcome  he  would  be  if  he  would  remain  on  the  boat, 
as  General  Terry  and  General  Gibbon  were  going  to  do 
for  the  present.  The  captain  also  reminded  him  that  he 
owed  it  to  his  mother  to  take  care  of  himself,  and  that  the 
march  his  brother  was  about  to  undertake  would  not 
be  without  many  dangers.  The  result  of  these  persua- 
sions was  that  "Boss"  decided  to  remain  on  the  boat. 
He  hastened  to  finish  his  letter  home,  as  a  skiff  was  to  go 
down  the  river  with  the  mail  at  noon.  He  then  stepped 
ashore,  telling  Captain  Marsh  that  he  was  going  to  say 
good-bye  to  his  brother,  get  some  tobacco  at  the  com- 
missary tent  and  would  then  be  back.  A  few  moments 
later,  the  captain  passed  General  Custer's  tent.  The 
General  was  writing,  and  called  out: 

"Captain,  'Boss'  tells  me  he  is  going  with  you." 

"Yes,"  answered  the  captain,  "he  has  decided  to." 
264 


The  Seventh  Marches  Into  the  Shadow 

"I  am  glad  of  that,"  returned  the  General.  "But  I 
am  afraid  he  will  eat  you  out  of  house  and  home." 

Nevertheless,  despite  the  fact  that  his  brother  wished 
him  to  remain  on  the  Far  West,  the  prospect  for 
excitement  was  evidently  too  much  for  the  boy.  He 
did  not  return  to  the  boat  but  went  with  the  ill-fated 
column,  and  Captain  Marsh  never  saw  his  young  friend 
again. 

At  noon,  every  preparation  having  been  made,  the 
7th  Cavalry  was  formed  and  marched  out  of  camp,  pass- 
ing in  review  before  Generals  Terry  and  Gibbon  as  it 
went.  When  the  last  sturdy  troop  had  swept  by,  fit  from 
fetlock  to  campaign  hat  for  any  work  ahead,  Custer 
turned  with  a  flash  in  his  eyes  of  the  old,  imperious  pride 
which  he  always  felt  in  his  regiment,  gripped  the  hands  of 
Gibbon  and  Terry  in  a  last,  strong  farewell,  then  touched 
his  horse  and  galloped  after  the  column,  never  to  be 
seen  again  by  the  world  whose  applause  he  had  so  often 
nobly  earned.  General  Gibbon  has  recorded  that  he 
said  to  Custer  as  the  latter  left  them : 

"Now,  Custer,  don't  be  greedy,  but  wait  for  us." 

And  the  brave  cavalryman  called  back:  "No,  I  will 
not";  an  ambiguous  answer  which  might  have  been 
intended  to  apply  to  either  part  of  Gibbon's  caution. 

With  Custer's  column  rode,  in  addition  to  the  585 
enlisted  men  and  thirty-one  officers  of  the  7th  Cavalry, 
Autie  Reed,  Boston  Custer,  and  Mark  Kellogg,  civilians; 
Charlie  Reynolds,  Mitch  Bouyer,  Frank  Girard,  and 
two  other  white  scouts,  and  twenty-five  Arikaree  and  six 

265 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Crow  scouts,  the  latter  being  the  ones  detailed  from  Gib- 
bon's command. 

Immediately  after  the  column  had  started,  the  letters 
written  by  the  troops  that  morning,  together  with  the  others 
which  had  accumulated  since  they  had  left  Fort  Lincoln, 
were  gathered  by  Captain  Marsh  and  placed  in  a  mail- 
sack  to  be  conveyed  to  Fort  Buford  by  skijff.  Sergeant 
Fox  and  two  privates  of  the  escort  were  detailed  by  Cap- 
tain Baker  to  carry  the  precious  cargo  down.  Amid  a 
chorus  of  hearty  good-byes  from  the  people  on  the  steamer, 
they  started  out.  But  they  were  totally  unfamiliar  with 
the  handling  of  a  small  boat  in  the  swirling  current  of 
the  Yellowstone.  Before  they  had  gone  fifty  feet  their 
skiff  overturned.  There,  in  full  view  of  their  comrades, 
who  could  not  reach  them  in  time  to  save,  all  three  of  the 
unfortunate  fellows  sank  from  sight,  while  the  mail  sack 
went  to  the  bottom  of  the  river. 

When  he  saw  the  skiff  go  over.  Captain  Marsh  put 
off  boats  with  all  speed,  but  by  the  time  they  reached 
the  spot  the  soldiers  were  drowned.  He  then  sent  back 
to  the  steamer  for  boat-hooks  and  began  dragging  the  river 
for  the  bodies  and  for  the  mail-pouch,  though  the  army 
officers  all  discouraged  the  idea,  believing  nothing  could 
be  recovered.  But  the  captain  persisted,  being  especi- 
ally anxious  to  find  the  mail,  in  which  he  knew  was  Gen- 
eral Custer's  last  letter  to  his  wife,  and  Boston's  to  his 
mother.  He  was  too  familiar  with  the  perils  of  Indian 
warfare  not  to  be  conscious  that  some,  at  least,  of  those 
whose  letters  were  in  that  pouch  would  probably  fall 

266 


The  Seventh  Marches  Into  the  Shadow 

during  the  next  few  days.  At  length  his  patient  efforts 
were  rewarded,  and  a  shout  went  up  as  the  dripping 
pouch  was  hauled  to  the  surface.  It  was  taken  back 
to  the  Far  West  and  the  letters  spread  out  on  the  upper 
deck  and  dried.  Not  one  was  missing.  They  were  then 
put  back  in  the  sack  and  a  second  start  made  with  more 
experienced  men,  the  skiff  this  time  reaching  its  destina- 
tion at  Fort  Buford  without  mishap.  The  bodies  of  none 
of  the  original  party  were  ever  recovered.  In  such  times 
as  those  considerations  of  safety  caused  mails  to  be  sent 
by  water  rather  than  overland,  whenever  possible.  A 
large  escort  would  be  necessary  as  protection  against 
Indians  for  the  overland  trip,  while  the  few  men  required 
to  handle  a  boat  could  hide  themselves  during  the  day 
time  along  the  banks  and  make  many  miles  progress  every 
night,  aided  by  the  rapid  current. 


267 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

THE   MESSENGER   OF   DISASTER 

They  ride  till  the  crickets  have  sought  the  shade, 
They  ride  till  the  sun-motes  glance. 
And  they  have  espied  on  a  jar  hillside 
The  whirl  of  the  Sioux  scalp  dance. 

THE  despatch  of  the  mail  consumed  most  of  the 
afternoon,  and  the  Far  West  did  not  get  away 
after  Gibbon's  command  until  the  next  morning, 
her  departure  leaving  the  camp-ground  at  the  Rosebud 
deserted.  When  he  did  start,  Captain  Marsh  ran  slowly, 
and  the  troops  had  not  yet  been  overhauled  when  dark- 
ness again  compelled  him  to  tie  up.  By  four  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  the  24th  he  was  off  again  and  a  half-hour 
later  the  boat  steamed  past  the  night's  bivouac  of  Gib- 
bon's infantry.  But  she  did  not  stop,  keeping  on  by  the 
mouth  of  the  Big  Horn  to  the  cavalry  camp,  two  miles 
above  old  Fort  Pease.  The  infantry  soon  came  up  to  the 
same  point  and  immediately  after  its  arrival,  eight  days' 
rations  were  issued  from  the  boat  to  the  entire  force  for 
its  march  up  the  Big  Horn. 

At  eleven  o'clock  Captain  Marsh  carried  across  the 
river,  twelve  Crow  scouts,  who,  finding  a  recent  Sioux 
trail,  disappeared  up  the  valley  of  TuUock's  Fork,  a  small 

268 


The  Messenger  of  Disaster 


affluent  of  the  Big  Horn  entering  the  latter  near  its  mouth. 
About  noon  the  boat  began  ferrying  the  troops  over. 
General  Gibbon  had  been  taken  severely  ill  on  the  up 
trip  and  was  still  confined  to  his  cabin,  unable  to  move, 
so  General  Terry  superintended  the  passage.  The 
cavalry  crossed  on  the  first  three  trips,  Bradley's  Crow 
scouts,  Low's  battery  and  part  of  the  infantry  on  the 
fourth,  and  the  remainder  of  the  infantry  on  the  fifth, 
all  being  over  by  four  o'clock.  The  only  force  now  left 
on  the  north  bank  was  Company  B,  of  the  7th  Infantry, 
Captain  Kirtland,  which  remained  to  guard  the  wagon- 
train. 

General  Gibbon  being  still  too  sick  to  leave  the  boat, 
the  column  started  without  him,  marching  about  four 
miles  up  Tullock's  Fork,  where  camp  was  made  for  the 
night.  The  following  morning,  before  daybreak,  Captain 
Burnett,  of  Gibbon's  staff,  came  to  Captain  Marsh  bear- 
ing orders  from  General  Terry  that  the  Far  West  attempt 
the  ascent  of  the  Big  Horn,  for  the  purpose  of  having  re- 
serve supplies  within  reach  of  the  troops.  The  captain 
had  not  received  any  previous  intimation  that  it  was  desired 
to  push  the  boat  up  this  stream,  but  though  he  saw  that 
it  would  be  a  very  difficult  undertaking,  he  did  not  shrink 
from  it.  Ordering  out  all  the  crew  to  cut  wood  he  kept 
them  at  this  work  until  noon,  by  which  time  a  good  supply 
of  fuel  had  been  accumulated.     Then  he  started. 

The  task  assigned  to  the  Far  West  was  no  ordinary  one 
and  probably  no  steamboat  was  ever  called  upon  to  con- 
tend   with   more   obstacles.     The   river   flowed    through 

269 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


an  extremely  tortuous  channel,  obstructed  with  innum- 
erable small  islands  and  sandbars,  taxing  the  pilot's  dex- 
terity to  the  utmost.  The  boat  had  scarcely  more  than 
cleared  the  mouth  before  rapids  were  encountered  which 
she  could  not  stem  with  her  wheel  alone.  So  the  soldiers 
were  put  ashore  and  sent  up  the  bank,  carrying  one  end  of 
a  long  warping  cable.  This  they  would  wrap  securely 
around  a  large  tree,  while  the  other  end  of  the  rope  was 
fastened  to  one  of  the  boat's  capstans.  The  latter  was 
then  put  in  motion,  rolling  up  the  rope  and  dragging  the 
boat  slowly  forward.  Now  and  then  she  reached  a  bit 
of  smoother  water  where  she  could  steam  for  a  few  hun- 
dred yards.  Then  another  rapid  would  be  met  with  and 
the  whole  process  repeated.  At  times  the  river  was  found 
so  swift  and  shallow  that  a  party  was  put  off  on  each 
shore  with  a  rope  and  both  capstans  worked,  the  boat 
thus  being  pulled  along  in  mid-stream.  This  method 
had  never  before  been  employed,  for  the  breadth  of  most 
navigable  streams  would  render  it  impracticable. 

Through  all  that  long,  hot  Sunday  afternoon  of  June 
25th  the  soldiers  and  the  crew,  sweating  and  weary,  coaxed 
and  hauled  their  cumbersome  charge  up  the  mountain 
stream,  past  dark,  overhanging  cliffs  and  through  ranges 
of  broken  and  naked  bad  lands.  Throughout  the  day 
heavy  columns  of  smoke  were  visible  rolling  up  along 
the  distant  southern  horizon.  Every  one  knew  that  they 
probably  betokened  the  presence  of  the  Sioux  villages. 
But  of  the  terrible  scenes  being  enacted  beneath  the 
shadow  of  those  smoke  clouds  during  the  early  hours  of 

270 


2 


3"  £ 


The  Messenger  of  Disaster 


the  afternoon  no  one  on  the  Far  West  could  dream. 
Nothing  had  been  heard  from  Custer  since  he  left  the 
Rosebud,  but  nothing  was  expected  yet.  Terry's  troops 
were  now  moving  steadily  up  the  ea.st  side  of  the  Big 
Horn  among  the  hills,  having  crossed  over  the  watershed 
from  TuUock's  Fork.  They  had  been  delayed  by  en- 
countering very  rough  bad  lands,  but  the  infantry  camped 
about  twenty-five  miles  up  the  Big  Horn  that  night  and 
the  Far  West  stopped  near  them.  General  Terry,  who 
had  also  observed  the  smoke  clouds,  pushed  on  with  the 
cavalry  through  the  night,  endeavoring  to  reach  the  Little 
Big  Horn. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  Far  West  had  gone  about  as  far  as 
would  be  possible,  but  before  dawn  of  the  26th  Captain 
Burnett  again  appeared  with  orders  that  the  boat  endeavor 
to  reach  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Big  Horn.  General 
Terry  instructed  Captain  Marsh  in  making  the  attempt 
not  to  pass  any  point  where  the  water  was  less  than  three 
feet  deep,  lest  the  river  fall  and  imprison  the  boat,  and  he 
further  directed  that,  in  case  the  Little  Big  Horn  could 
not  be  reached,  the  boat  return  to  the  point  where  the 
orders  were  received  and  there  await  further  instructions. 
General  Gibbon  by  this  time  was  sufficiently  recovered 
to  be  able  to  travel  and  before  the  Far  West  started  he 
set  out  after  the  cavalry  advance,  which  the  infantry  also 
soon  followed. 

During  the  forenoon  the  men  on  the  steamer  repeated 
their  labors  of  the  previous  day  and  about  twelve  o'clock 
they  were  rewarded  by  arriving  at  the  mouth  of  a  consider- 

271 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


able  creek  entering  the  Big  Horn  on  the  east.  From  the 
descriptions  he  had  heard  of  the  stream,  as  well  as  from 
the  fact  that  for  twenty  miles  up  the  east  bank  of  the 
Big  Horn  ahead  not  a  break  appeared  in  the  smooth 
crests  of  the  bluffs  to  indicate  an  entering  tributary.  Cap- 
tain Marsh  was  certain  that  this  was  the  Little  Big  Horn. 
But  for  some  reason  Captain  Baker  did  not  concur  in 
his  opinion.  After  debating  the  question  for  some  time 
and  still  remaining  unsatisfied,  he  landed  his  company 
and  marched  up  the  tributary  about  four  miles.  He  re- 
turned with  the  definite  announcement  that  it  was  not 
the  Little  Big  Horn,  and  desired  that  the  boat  continue 
up  the  main  stream.  Captain  Marsh  said  nothing  more, 
but  complied.  After  proceeding  about  fifteen  miles  further 
without  discovering  any  creeks,  they  came  to  a  place  where 
the  channel  of  the  river  was  obstructed  by  two  islands, 
breaking  the  water  into  three  chutes.  It  was  necessary 
to  learn  whether  any  of  them  contained  three  feet  of  water 
and,  having  an  ulterior  object  in  view,  Captain  Marsh 
himself  took  charge  of  the  yawl  and  rowed  up  to  sound 
through  the  chutes.  On  his  return  he  informed  Captain 
Baker  that  all  of  the  channels  were  too  shoal  to  be  at- 
tempted. The  army  officer  was  much  disappointed  but 
nothing  was  to  be  done  save  give  up  a  further  advance 
or  else  disobey  General  Terry's  orders. 

Night  now  coming  on,  the  boat  tied  to  the  bank  where 
she  was,  but  during  the  evening  Captain  Marsh  confided 
with  a  quiet  chuckle  to  George  Foulk,  the  engineer: 

"George,  there  is  more  than  three  feet  water  between 
272 


The  Messenger  oj  Disaster 


those  islands,  but  there's  no  use  in  our  going  above  them, 
for  that's  the  Little  Big  Horn  fifteen  miles  back  and  you 
can  bet  on  it." 

At  dawn  the  boat  turned  about  and  started  back.  In 
the  meantime  Captain  Baker,  having  slept  over  it,  had 
begun  to  think  that  he  might  have  been  mistaken  and 
when  the  boat  again  arrived  at  the  stream  previously 
explored,  with  his  sanction  she  stopped.  In  order  to 
keep  her  safe  from  Indian  attack  she  was  tied  to  the 
shore  of  an  island  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  tributary 
and  the  crew  and  escort  then  proceeded  to  pass  the  time 
as  pleasantly  as  possible  until  tidings  should  come  from 
the  column. 

From  where  they  lay  the  valley  of  the  Little  Big  Horn, 
as  the  stream  later  proved  in  fact  to  be,  was  visible  for 
several  miles  extending  back  among  the  hills.  Along 
both  its  shores  spread  dense  thickets  of  willow  brush, 
while  about  its  mouth  and  over  the  island  where  the  boat 
lay,  large  cottonwood  trees,  their  leaves  rustling  pleas- 
antly in  the  summer  wind,  afforded  shelter  from  the  heat. 
The  waters  of  the  Big  Horn,  rippling  over  their  gravel 
bed,  were  clear  and  cold  and  teemed  with  pike,  salmon 
and  channel  cat-fish,  which  had  not  yet  learned  through 
sad  experience  to  be  wary  of  the  angler's  bait.  A  number 
of  the  men  therefore  cut  willow  poles  and,  scattering 
along  the  shore  of  the  island,  devoted  themselves  with 
great  success  to  fishing.  A  little  after  ten  o'clock.  Captain 
Marsh,  Engineer  Foulk  and  Pilot  Campbell,  together 
with  Captain  Baker  and  Lieutenant  Carlin,  strolled  out 

273 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


from  the  boat,  and,  selecting  a  spot  a  little  removed  from 
the  others,  engaged  in  the  general  pastime. 

The  smoke  columns  noticed  along  the  southern  horizon 
on  the  two  previous  days  had  disappeared  now,  and  the 
general  opinion  was  that  Custer  and  Terry  had  met  the 
enemy  and  routed  them,  so  little  fear  was  felt  of  an  Indian 
surprise.  Nevertheless,  as  they  sat  there,  George  Foulk 
noticed  how  close  they  were  to  the  dense  willows  on  the 
main  shore  and  remarked  to  the  others  that  it  would  be 
very  easy  for  Indians  to  creep  up  and  fire  on  them.  They 
were  still  idly  discussing  the  suggestion  when,  without 
the  least  warning,  the  green  thickets  at  which  they  were 
looking,  parted,  and  a  mounted  Indian  warrior,  of  mag- 
nificent physique  and  stark  naked  save  for  a  breech-clout, 
burst  through  and  jerked  up  his  sweating  pony  at  the 
brink  of  the  water.  The  fishermen  leaped  to  their  feet 
with  startled  exclamations,  but  before  they  could  run 
back  the  Indian  held  aloft  his  carbine  in  sign  of  peace. 
They  then  paused  and,  upon  scrutinizing  him  more 
closely,  recognized  from  his  erect  scalp-lock  that  he  was 
a  Crow,  and  then,  to  their  surprise,  that  he  was  Curley, 
one  of  the  scouts  who  had  gone  with  Custer.  They  had 
expected  to  hear  from  Terry  and  Gibbon,  but  not  from 
Custer.  Motioning  to  him  to  come  to  the  boat  they 
hurried  there  themselves  while  he  forded  the  stream  and 
joined  them. 

As  soon  as  he  was  on  board  he  gave  way  to  the  most 
violent  demonstrations  of  grief.  Throwing  himself  down 
upon  a  medicine-chest  on  deck  he  began  rocking  to  and 

274 


The  Messenger  of  Disaster 


fro,  groaning  and  crying.  For  some  time  it  was  im- 
possible to  calm  him.  When  at  length  he  had  to  some 
extent  regained  his  self-control,  the  question  arose  as  to 
how  to  communicate  with  him,  for  no  one  on  board  could 
understand  the  Crow  language,  while  he  spoke  no  Eng- 
lish, so  that  all  efforts  at  conversation  failed.  Finally 
Captain  Baker  produced  a  piece  of  paper  and  a  pencil 
and  showed  the  Indian  how  to  use  them. 

Curley  grasped  the  pencil  firmly  in  his  fist  and  dropping 
flat  on  his  stomach  on  the  deck,  began  drawing  a  rude 
diagram,  while  about  him  the  army  and  steamboat  offi- 
cers gathered  closely,  waiting  in  silent  suspense  for  his 
disclosures,  for  everyone  guessed  from  his  actions  that  he 
brought  important  news.  The  Crow  drew  first  a  circle 
and  then,  outside  of  it,  another.  Then  between  the  inner 
and  outer  circles  he  began  making  numerous  dots,  re- 
peating as  he  did  so  in  despairing  accents: 

"Sioux!    Sioux!" 

When  he  had  quite  filled  the  intervening  space  with 
dots,  he  glanced  up  at  the  intent  faces  around  him  and 
then  slowly  commenced  filling  the  interior  circle  with 
similar  marks,  while  his  voice  rose  to  a  yet  more  dismal 
tone  as  he  reiterated : 

"  Absaroka !    Absaroka ! ' ' 

"By  Scotts!"  exclaimed  Captain  Marsh,  "I  know  what 
that  means.  It  means  soldiers.  That  Englishman, 
Courtney,  who  runs  the  woodyard  at  the  head  of  Drowned 
Man's  Rapids,  told  me  so.  One  time  when  I  was  there 
some  Crow  Indians  started  down  river  from  the  wood- 

275 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


yard  and  Courtney  told  me  they  were  going  to  see  the 
Ahsaroka  at  Camp  Cooke." 

He  was  interrupted  by  Curley,  who  suddenly  sprang 
to  his  feet,  faced  the  listeners  and  flung  his  arms  wide. 
Then,  swinging  them  back,  he  struck  his  breast  repeatedly 
with  his  fingers,  exclaiming  at  each  blow,  in  imitation  of 
rifle  shots: 

"Poof!    Poof!    Poof!    Absaroka!" 

The  white  men  stood  in  tense  silence,  searching  each 
other's  faces.  For  a  moment  no  one  dared  confess  that 
he  understood.     Captain  Baker  was  the  first  to  speak: 

"We're  whipped!"  he  said,  hoarsely.  "That's  what's 
the  matter."     And  he  turned  away. 

Curley  continued  his  pantomime  by  grasping  his  scalp- 
lock  with  one  hand  while  with  the  other  he  described  a 
circle  around  it,  then  made  as  if  to  jerk  it  off  and  hang  it 
at  his  belt,  meantime  executing  a  Sioux  war  dance.  But 
his  absorbed  observers  already  realized  that  they  were 
receiving  the  first  news  of  a  great  battle,  in  which  many 
soldiers  had  been  surrounded,  slain  and  scalped  by  the 
Sioux.  Having  learned  so  much  as  a  beginning,  they 
were  able  to  bring  the  sign  language  into  use  for  acquiring 
further  particulars.  It  was  a  very  slow  process  but,  by 
it,  in  the  course  of  hours,  they  gradually  gathered  details 
from  Curley,  each  one  of  which  added  to  the  appalling 
nature  of  the  news.* 

♦The  word  Ahsaroka,  which  is  stated  above  to  mean  "soldier,"  is 
generally  understood  to  be  only  the  Crow  name  for  their  own  people. 
But  Dr.  WJ  McGee,  formerly  in  charge  of  the  Bureau  of  American 
Ethnology,  Smithsonian  Institution,  informs  the  author  that  it  has  a 

276 


The  Messenger  of  Disaster 


According  to  Curley,  General  Custer  was  killed  and 
every  man  who  had  gone  into  action  with  him,  excepting 
the  Crow  himself.  He  did  not  tell  of  the  dividing  of 
the  regiment  before  the  battle  and  evidently  knew  noth- 
ing of  Reno's  survival.  So  far  as  they  could  understand, 
he  was  trying  to  tell  them  that  the  whole  7th  Cavalry 
bad  been  annihilated.  He  declared  that  he  had  been 
in  the  thick  of  the  fight,  while  the  soldiers,  surrounded 
by  thousands  of  yelling  foes,  were  falling  in  scores,  the 
survivors  struggling  forward  blindly  in  vain  search  for 
some  spot  among  the  waste  of  broken  ravines  where  they 
might  make  a  successful  defense.  Some  of  them  had 
used  their  dead  horses  for  barricades,  and  the  remnant 
of  one  troop,  E,  under  Lieut.  A.  E.  Smith,  had  tried  to 
cut  its  way  out  but  was  utterly  destroyed. 

At  last  Curley  had  seen  that  the  battle  must  inevitably 
end  in  the  annihilation  of  his  white  friends.  He  had  then 
picked  up  two  blankets  and  going  to  General  Custer, 
who  was  still  unhurt  and  fighting  desperately  in  the  cen- 
ter of  his  little  band  of  heroic  followers,  implored  him  to 
throw  one  of  the  blankets  over  his  head  and,  thus  con- 
cealed, attempt  under  Curley 's  guidance  to  escape  in  the 
confusion  through  the  madly  circling  masses  of  the  Sioux. 
As  was  to  be  expected,  the  peerless  soldier  rejected  the 
proposal  scornfully.     He  had  no  desire  save  to  die  with 

broader  meaning,  which  is  implied  quite  as  much  as  "Crows"  by  the 
Indians  when  they  use  the  word.  The  broader  meaning  is  difficult  of 
literal  translation,  but,  liberally,  it  is,  "the  great  warrior  people."  Hence, 
after  the  Crows  had  grown  to  know  and  admire  the  white  soldiers,  they 
came  to  apply  their  own  flattering  tribal  name  to  the  latter,  out  of  com 


pliment. — J.  M.  H. 

277 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


his  men.  But  he  bade  Curley  escape  if  he  could  and  the 
latter,  with  bitter  grief,  looking  his  last  upon  the  great 
white  chief  whom  he  loved  and  honored,  tossed  one  of 
the  blankets  over  his  own  head  to  conceal  his  Crow  scalp- 
lock,  and,  watching  an  opportunity,  sprang  into  a  mel6e 
of  Sioux  warriors  as  they  crowded  up  to  kill  and  mutilate 
some  of  the  fallen.  The  last  man  of  the  soldiers  whom 
he  saw  to  recognize  had  been  Lieutenant  W.  W.  Cooke, 
the  regimental  adjutant,  whose  tall  form  and  long,  flow- 
ing beard  were  plainly  visible  as  he  stood  above  his  fel- 
lows, firing  into  the  faces  of  the  foe.  Gradually  working 
to  the  outer  edge  of  the  Sioux  hordes,  Curley  had  ridden 
northward  into  the  sheltered  valley  of  the  Little  Big 
Horn.  Here  he  was  partially  concealed  and  was  able, 
by  using  great  caution,  to  make  his  way  toward  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  where  he  arrived  forty-four  hours  after  the 
battle,  though  the  distance  was  only  eleven  miles. 

The  people  on  the  boat  could  scarcely  believe  that  the 
Crow's  story  was  true  in  all  its  dreadful  particulars, 
though  his  grief  was  too  genuine  not  to  force  some  cre- 
dence. Captain  Baker,  after  the  first  shock  of  the  in- 
telligence, was  far  from  being  convinced  and  endeavored 
to  persuade  the  scout  to  return  to  Custer  with  a  despatch 
telling  him  where  the  supply  boat  lay.  But  Curley  re- 
fused to  leave  the  steamer,  refused  to  take  food  and 
retiring  to  a  corner  of  the  deck,  squatted  on  his  haunches 
and  began  mourning  for  the  dead  after  the  manner  of 
his  tribe.  There  was  nothing  to  be  done,  therefore, 
but  wait  for  the  arrival  of  some  one  else  from  the  col- 

278 


The  Messenger  of  Disaster 


umns  with  news  and  orders,  and  the  men  on  the  Far  West 
passed  the  remainder  of  the  day  in  uneasy  discussion 
of  the  possibihties  suggested  by  Curley's  story.* 

*  Some  few  historians  have  sought  to  cast  discredit  upon  Curley's 
story,  assuming  that  he  did  not  participate  in  the  fighting  at  all,  but  se- 
creted himself  in  a  ravine  before  it  began  and  escaped  after  nightfall, 
when  it  was  over.  Among  these  is  Dr.  Cyrus  Townsend  Brady,  in  his 
generally  admirable  and  i)ainstaking  account  of  Custer's  last  campaign, 
m  his  "Indian  Fights  and  Fighters."  There  is  no  more  warrant  for 
doubting  Curley's  story  than  there  would  be  for  doubting  the  story  of 
any  other  man  whose  assertions  have  no  witnesses  to  support  them. 
Curley's  reputation  for  veracity,  both  before  and  since  the  battle,  has 
been  excellent.  Lieutenant  Bradley  had  found  him  a  reliable  scout  and 
had  assigned  him  to  duty  with  General  Custer  as  one  of  his  "six  best 
men."  The  account  of  the  fight  which  he  gave  on  board  the  Far  West 
was  subsequently  borne  out  fully  in  all  its  main  features.  It  was  the  first 
and  for  a  long  time  the  only,  account  of  Custer's  battle  given  to  wliite 
men  by  an  eye-witness.  Curley,  as  he  declared  at  the  time,  was  the  sole 
survivor  of  the  defending  force,  and  the  only  other  eye-witnesses  were 
hostiles  whose  stories  were  not  gathered  until  years  later. 

The  Crow  had  been  absolutely  alone  from  the  time  he  left  the  battle- 
field until  he  reached  the  Far  West,  and  had  therefore  had  no  oppor- 
tunity for  comparing  notes  with  any  one  else  and  thus  concocting  a 
story.  He  was  certainly  present  at  the  fight,  else  he  would  not  have 
known  facts,  which,  at  the  hour  when  he  must  have  left  the  vicinity  of 
the  battlefield  in  order  to  reach  the  boat  when  he  did,  were  still  unknown 
to  either  Reno's  survivors  or  to  Terry's  column.  Lieutenant  Bradley 
says  in  his  journal  that  the  Crow  scouts  from  Reno's  command  whom 
he,  with  Terry's  advance,  encountered  on  the  morning  of  June  27th, 
reported  that  Curley  had  been  with  Custer  and  was  undoubtedly  among 
the  killed.  He  was,  in  fact,  at  that  moment  approaching  the  mouth  of 
the  Little  Big  Horn,  where  he  arrived  at  11  o'clock  A.  AL 

The  sketch  drawn  by  Curley  on  a  piece  of  paper  with  Captain  Baker's 
pencil,  showing  how  Custer  and  his  men  were  surrounded  and  killed 
by  the  Sioux,  was  extremely  crude.  But  it  presented  the  crucial  fea- 
tures of  the  battle  accurately,  and  antedated  by  more  than  eighteen 
years  the  drawing  made  by  Rain-in-the-Face  on  the  back  of  a  hunting- 
shirt,  in  August,  1894,  which  has  been  frequently  heralded  as  the  first 
and  only  map  of  the  field  of  the  Little  Big  Horn  ever  drawn  by  an  Indian 
participant. — J.  M.  H. 

After  reading  the  above  footnote  regarding  Curley's  story.  General 
Godfrey  wrote  to  the  author: 

"  Chief  Gall  pooh-pooh'd  Curley's  story  of  escape,  said  it  was  impos- 

279 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


sible  for  him  to  disguise  and  escape  in  the  fight,  and  that  he  probably 
saw  the  fight  from  the  high  ridge  north  and  made  up  his  story." 

Such  may,  of  course,  have  been  the  case.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  Gall  was  a  Sioux  and  hated  the  Crows  as  the  hereditary  foes  of  his 
people.  He  would  naturally  be  loath  to  credit  one  of  them  with  any 
act  of  bravery;  savages  are  prone  to  voice  contempt  for  their  enemies, 
whether  they  feel  it  or  not.  Moreover,  of  the  three  Crow  scouts  who 
were  with  Custer  in  the  battle.  Lieutenant  Bradley  states  that  Curley's 
two  comrades.  White  Swan  and  Half  Yellow  Face,  were  killed  with 
Custer's  men,  while  the  other  three,  who  were  with  Reno,  remained  with 
him  and  fought  throughout  the  engagement,  according  to  General  God- 
frey's Century  article,  though  the  twenty-odd  Arikaree  scouts  fled  igno- 
miniously  at  almost  the  first  fire  of  the  Sioux  and  did  not  stop  running 
until  they  reached  Major  Moore's  camp  at  the  mouth  of  the  Powder. 
It  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that  Curley  was  at  least  as  resolute  as 
his  five  companions,  and  mat  he  went  into  the  fight  as  they  did  and 
stayed  in  it  until  he  saw  that  his  only  chance  for  life  lay  in  escaping 
quickly. — J.  M.  H. 


280 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

THE   SQUADRON  THAT   PERISHED 

Far  roll  the  lines  of  battle,  o^er  swamp  and  vale  and  height. 
And,  jar  and  near,  the  battle-flags  toss  in  the  vioming  light; 
A  brave  array  is  spread  to-day  to  joust  with  waiting  Death 
And  fan  the  face  of  Destiny  with  sacrificial  breath/ 

THE  gray  twilight  of  dawn  was  just  creeping  over 
the  valley  when  the  men  of  the  Far  West  were 
roused  from  slumber  by  a  sudden  sputter  of  rifle 
fire,  part  close  at  hand  and  part  far  distant.  Rushing 
out  on  deck,  they  found  their  boat  guards  firing  excitedly, 
while  from  the  hills  to  northward  a  single  horseman  could 
be  seen  galloping  furiously  into  the  dim  valley  of  the 
Little  Big  Horn.  He  was  waving  his  arms  in  frantic 
signals  to  the  boat,  but  turning  in  his  saddle  every  moment 
to  fire  into  the  faces  of  a  party  of  Indians  who  were  riding 
hard  behind  him.  No  sooner  had  the  pursuers  caught 
sight  of  the  Far  West  than  they  gave  up  the  chase  and, 
wheeling  off  to  the  left,  vanished  again  among  the  hills, 
while  their  intended  victim  came  in  unharmed. 

He  proved  to  be  "Muggins"  Taylor,  one  of  Gibbon's 
scouts,  on  his  way  to  Fort  Ellis  with  despatches  from  his 

281 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


commander.  He  had  set  out  for  Captain  Kirtland's  camp 
on  the  Yellowstone,  traveling  along  the  Big  Horn — Tul- 
lock's  Fork  watershed,  but  on  his  way  had  been  dis- 
covered by  Indians  and  compelled  to  run  for  his  life. 
Though  he  had  little  hope  of  finding  safety  there,  he 
had  ridden  in  desperation  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Little 
Big  Horn  and  by  good  fortune  alone  had  chanced  to 
stumble  on  the  boat.  Had  he  not  done  so  he  would  soon 
have  been  killed,  for  his  horse  was  completely  winded 
and  could  not  have  borne  him  much  farther.  As  soon 
as  he  had  recovered  somewhat  from  his  fatigue,  Taylor 
gave  them  the  first  account  of  the  battle  they  had  received 
from  a  white  man.  He  told  of  the  difficult  march  of 
Terry's  troops  up  the  Little  Big  Horn  and  of  their  horri- 
fying discovery,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  of 
the  hillsides  on  Custer's  battlefield,  strewn  with  the  muti- 
lated bodies  of  the  slain,  each  bearing  the  Sioux  death- 
mark,  a  slit  to  the  bone  from  hip  to  knee.  Custer  was 
there  and  with  him  his  whole  family:  Captain  Tom, 
Boston,  and  Autie  Reed.  Poor  Kellogg,  the  Bismarck 
Tribune  correspondent,  was  there,  his  portfolio  of  manu- 
script on  the  events  of  the  campaign  still  lying  beside  his 
body. 

Then  he  told  of  the  subsequent  discovery  of  the  ex- 
hausted remnant  of  the  7th  Cavalry  under  Major  Reno, 
who  had  lain  for  thirty-six  hours  on  a  barren  hilltop, 
assailed  by  thousands  of  savages,  blistered  by  the  sun  and 
half  mad  with  thirst,  barricaded  with  the  putrifying  car- 
casses of  their  dead  horses  and  pack  mules,  and  their 


The  Sqtuidron  that  Perished 


position  littered  with  dead  comrades,  and  wounded  who 
raved  for  the  water  which  for  many  hours  could  not  be 
obtained  for  them.  Learning  of  the  approach  of  Terry 
on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  the  Indians,  he  said,  had 
raised  the  siege  and  retreated  toward  the  Big  Horn  Moun- 
tains, taking  their  vast  villages  with  them.  The  recital 
seemed  appalling  almost  past  belief,  but  it  was  only  too 
true.  Taylor  was  made  comfortable  on  the  Far  West, 
having  himself  decided  that,  in  view  of  his  experience, 
it  would  be  unwise  for  him  to  proceed  alone  on  his  journey 
with  the  hostiles  so  numerous  in  the  vicinity.  The  boat's 
company,  plunged  into  inexpressible  gloom  by  his  tidings, 
confirming  the  earlier  ones  brought  by  Curley,  settled 
down  to  wait  for  whatever  part  they  were  to  play  in  the 
later  scenes  of  the  drama  of  defeat. 

From  the  mass  of  accurate  and  detailed  information 
which  has  since  been  gathered  concerning  them,  the 
operations  of  General  Custer's  command  after  it  left  the 
Rosebud  may  be  briefly  summarized,  since  some  knowl- 
edge of  them  is  necessary  to  a  complete  understanding 
of  the  later  movements  in  the  theater  of  war.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  22nd  of  June,  Custer  marched  twelve 
miles  and  went  into  camp  at  four  o'clock  P.M.  After  a 
long  night's  rest,  at  five  A.  M.  on  the  23rd  he  moved 
forward  again,  marched  thirty-three  miles  and  camped 
at  five  in  the  afternoon  in  the  valley  of  the  Rosebud. 
On  the  24th  he  marched  twenty-eight  miles  between 
sunrise  and  sunset,  halting  often  to  permit  of  the  scouts 
thoroughly  examining  the  valley  of  TuUock's  Fork  to 

283 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


his  right.  About  midnight,  after  some  four  hours'  rest, 
he  started  his  command  for  the  divide  between  the  Rose- 
bud and  Big  Horn  valleys,  about  twenty  miles  distant, 
informing  his  officers  that  he  wished  to  conceal  the  col- 
umn near  the  divide  and  spend  the  day,  the  25th,  in 
reconnoitering  the  enemy's  position,  preparatory  to  at- 
tacking it  on  the  26th.  The  divide  was  reached  at  10:30 
in  the  morning  and  the  troops  dismounted  in  a  ravine. 
These  facts,  given  by  Gen.  Edward  S.  Godfrey,  U.  S.  A.,* 
who,  as  First  Lieutenant  commanding  Troop  K,  was 
present  with  the  7th  Cavalry  throughout  the  campaign, 
make  it  evident  that  Custer  did  not  unduly  hasten  his 
march  nor  bring  his  men  or  his  animals  up  to  the  Little 
Big  Horn  in  an  exhausted  condition. 

Shortly  after  reaching  the  divide,  Sioux  scouts  were 
observed  making  deliberate  inspection  of  the  command 
from  adjacent  eminences,  and  it  became  obvious  that  its 
presence  was  discovered  and  that  further  attempts  at 
concealment  would  be  useless.  The  General  therefore 
ordered  his  troops  forward  for  immediate  attack  upon  the 
Indian  village  to  prevent  the  latter  from  scattering  and 
making  its  escape.  The  regiment  was  divided  into  three 
battalions;  the  first,  consisting  of  five  troops,  under  Gen- 
eral Custer  himself;  the  second,  of  three  troops  and  a 
company  of  Arikaree  scouts,  under  Major  Reno;  and  the 
third,  of  three  troops,  under  Captain  Benteen.  One 
troop,  under  Captain  McDougall,  was  detailed  to  guard 
the  pack-train. 

*  In  his  Century  article  previously  cited. 

284 


The  Squadron  that  Perished 


Benteen  was  instructed  to  move  to  the  left  and  strike 
the  Little  Big  Horn  several  miles  above  the  supposed 
location  of  the  village,  in  order  to  cut  the  latter  off  from 
the  Big  Horn  Mountains.  Reno  was  ordered  to  move 
straight  ahead,  cross  the  river  immediately  above  the 
village  and  attack  it  from  the  south.  Custer  himself  was 
to  support  Reno's  attack.  Benteen  marched  on  his 
prescribed  course  for  some  miles  and  then  was  forced 
out  of  it  by  the  ruggedness  of  the  country  into  the  trail 
of  Reno.  The  latter,  meanwhile,  had  gone  ahead  as  or- 
dered, passing  down  the  face  of  the  bluffs  and  across  the 
river  into  the  valley  above  the  village.  Here,  encounter- 
ing the  enemy,  he  deployed.  His  advance  was  shortly 
checked  by  the  vigorous  resistance  of  the  Indians,  who 
developed  in  far  stronger  force  than  was  expected.  Reno 
did  not  "charge  the  village,"  as  ordered,  but  retired  to  a 
strip  of  timber  along  the  river  where  he  dismounted  his 
men  and  stood  his  ground  for  a  time.  Then,  growing 
faint-hearted,  he  retreated  precipitately  to  the  steep  bluffs 
of  the  east  bank,  permitting  his  troops  to  become  dis- 
organized and  panic-stricken  in  the  movement  and  suffer- 
ing heavy  loss.  The  Indians  who  had  been  opposing 
him,  relieved  by  his  retreat  of  the  immediate  necessity 
of  watching  him,  hurried  northward  across  the  river  and 
joined  with  those  who  were  just  coming  into  contact  with 
the  advance  of  Custer. 

The  latter,  after  following  Reno  for  some  time,  had 
moved  off  to  the  right  with  the  evident  intention  of  sup- 
porting Reno  by  a  flank  attack  on  the  village  from  the 

285 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


east.*  He  finally  reached  a  point  where  the  valley  of 
the  river  lay  spread  out  below  him.  From  this  position, 
occupied  just  previous  to  his  deployment,  Custer  could 
observe  through  breaks  in  the  bluffs  a  number  of  the 
Indian  lodges,  though  it  is  evident  that,  even  then,  he 
had  no  conception  of  the  real  extent  of  the  Sioux  encamp- 
ments. Stirred  at  the  sight,  he  had  the  adjutant  despatch 
a  messenger.  Trumpeter  Morton   (or  Martini),  the  last 

*  If  there  was  any  excuse  for  Reno's  failure  to  press  his  attack  vigor- 
ously, it  lay  in  his  misinterpreting  what  Custer  meant  by  saying  that  he 
(Custer)  would  support  him.  He  may  have  been  disconcerted,  after 
coming  into  action,  by  finding  that  Custer's  battalion  was  not  right  be- 
hind him.     General  Godfrey  has  written  to  the  author: 

"Don't  forget  that  Custer  told  Reno  that  the  whole  outfit  would 
follow  and  support  him.  Reno  had  the  advance,  and  Custer  did  follow 
to  a  point  near  the  Little  Big  Horn  and  then  branched  off  to  the  right, 
but  that  was  not  premeditated." 

If  Custer  had  assured  Reno  that  he  would  folloiv  the  latter  in  order  to 
support  him,  then  the  latter's  misgivings  may  have  been  somewhat 
justified  when  he  did  not  find  Custer  in  his  rear.  It  is,  perhaps,  a  new 
point  in  Reno's  favor.  General  Godfrey,  in  his  Century  article,  wrote 
simply: 

"Reno's  command  and  the  scouts  followed  them"  (a  few  scattering 
Indians)  "closely,  until  he  received  orders  'to  move  forward  at  as  rapid 
a  gait  as  he  thought  prudent,  and  charge  the  village  afterward,  and  the 
whole  outfit  would  support  him.'" 

That  Custer  followed  the  spirit  of  his  arrangement  with  Reno  when 
he  moved  off  to  the  right.  Dr.  Cyrus  Townsend  Brady  succinctly  demon- 
strates when  he  says,  in  "  Indian  Fights  and  Fighters " : 

"Reno  mistook  the  purpose  of  Custer's  statement.  In  order  to  sup- 
port an  attack,  it  is  not  necessary  to  get  behind  it.  A  flank  attack  or 
a  demonstration  in  force,  from  some  other  direction,  frequently  may 
be  the  best  method  of  supporting  an  attack.  Custer's  plan  was  entirely 
simple.  Reno  was  to  attack  the  end  of  the  village.  Benteen  was  to 
sweep  around  and  fall  on  the  left  of  it,  Custer  on  the  right." 

Custer,  attended  by  his  staff,  appeared  on  the  bluffs  on  the  east  side 
of  the  river  and  to  Reno's  right,  after  the  latter  had  crossed  the  river 
and  entered  the  bottom  and  just  before  he  became  engaged.  Custer 
waved  his  hat  toward  them  encouragingly  and  then  disappeared,  and 
Reno  must  have  known  from  the  incident  that  Custer  was  moving  down 
river  for  a  flank  attack. — J.  M.  H. 

286 


The  Squadron  that  Perished 


who  went  through,  with  the  following  hastily  scrawled 
order  to  Captain  Benteen: 

"Benteen,  come  on.  Big  village.  Be  quick.  Bring 
packs.     P."     (S.)     "Bring  pac's.  W.W.Cook."* 

Relying  upon  Reno's  vigorous  co-operation,  and  not 
knowing  that  the  latter  was  already  suffering,  or  had 
suffered,  a  repulse,  Custer  then  deployed  for  attack  and 
went  forward.  In  the  broken  and  precipitous  hills  bor- 
dering the  east  bank  of  the  river  he  was  immediately 
assailed  by  practically  all  the  Indians  of  the  immense 
camp  at  once;  by  those  streaming  up  from  Reno's  front 
as  well  as  by  those  already  on  the  east  side.  His  struggle 
could  not  have  lasted  long;  he  was  overwhelmed  and 
wiped  out. 

All  the  Indians  then  returned  to  the  attack  on  Reno, 
who  had  meantime  been  joined  by  Benteen  and  Mc- 
Dougall.  They  held  these  seven  troops  closely  besieged 
until  the  evening  of  the  following  day,  when,  evidently 
aware  of  the  approach  of  Terry  up  the  valley,  they  raised 
the  investment  and  retreated  with  all  their  impedimenta 
toward  the  Big  Horn  ISIountains,  Before  they  left  they 
fired  the  grass  in  the  bottoms  to  conceal  their  movements 
as  much  as  possible  behind  the  smoke  clouds,  but  as  they 
moved  off  in  the  red  glow  of  sunset.  Major  Renof  de- 
clared that  "the  length  of  the  column  was  full  equal  to 
that  of  a  large  division  of  the  cavalry  corps  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  as  I  have  seen  it  on  its  march." 

*  Official  report  of  Capt.  F.  W.  Benteen. 

t  In  his  official  report  of  the  battle.  Secretary  of  War,  1876-77. 


287 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


With  Custer  died  twelve  other  officers,  191  enUsted 
men  and  four  civihans.  Reno  lost  three  officers,  forty- 
eight  men  and  five  civilians  and  scouts  killed,  and  fifty- 
nine  wounded,  of  whom  seven  died  on  the  field.  As  has 
been  stated,  Custer  expected  to  encounter  between  1,000 
and  1,500  warriors,  certainly  not  more  than  the  latter 
number.  He  actually  did  encounter  more  nearly  3,000, 
and  they  were  simply  too  many  for  his  force.  The  Indians 
generally  were  much  better  armed  than  the  soldiers, 
whose  carbines,  in  addition  to  being  of  short  range,  had 
defective  shell-ejectors  which  were  always  liable  to  clog 
during  rapid  firing  and  which,  in  the  action,  undoubtedly 
rendered  many  of  the  weapons  useless. 

In  the  hostile  camps  was  a  total  of  at  least  12,000  souls, 
possibly  15,000,*  consisting  of  Indians  of  the  Uncpapa 
tribe  under  chiefs  Gall,  Crow  King  and  Black  Moon; 
of  the  Sans  Arcs  under  Spotted  Eagle;  of  the  Minnecon- 
joux  under  Hump;  of  the  Brule;  of  the  Northern  Chey- 
enne, allied  with  the  Sioux  for  this  campaign,  under 
White  Bull,  Two  Moons  and  Little  Horse;  and  of  the 
Ogalalla  under  Crazy  Horse,  Big  Road  and  Low  Dog. 
The  warriors  of  the  latter  tribe  had  joined  the  main  camp 
shortly  before  the  battle,  their  trail  from  the  field  where 
they  had  fought  Crook  on  June  17th  being  found  by  Gib- 
bon after  the  relief  of  Reno.  Among  all  the  chiefs  en- 
gaged at  the  Little  Big  Horn,  the  real  leaders  were  Crow 
King,   Gall,  and   Crazy  Horse.     The  renowned   Sitting 

*  "  Custer's  Last  Battle,"  by  Wm.  S.  Brackett,  in  Contributions  to  the 
Historical  Society  of  Montana,  Vol.  IV. 


288 


PhotoKraph  by  S.  J.  Morrow. 


SrniXG   BILL 


The  Squadron  tliat  Perished 


Bull,  though  near  by,  is  said  to  have  taken  no  part  in  the 
fight.  The  Indians  themselves  esteemed  him  something 
of  a  coward,  though  they  feared  his  power  as  a  medicine 
man.  During  the  battle  he  was  "making  medicine"  in 
the  village  and  afterward,  of  course,  he  declared  the  Indian 
victory  to  be  due  solely  to  the  strength  of  his  necromancy. 
As  usual,  the  superstitious  savages  believed  him  and  his 
prestige  received  a  corresponding  increase. 


289 


CHAPTER    XXXVII 

THE   AFTERMATH    OF   BATILE 

They  pause:   then  slow,  reluctant  to  quit  the  fatal  spot. 
With  many  a  short-lived  rally  and  many  a  backward  shot. 
The  riven  ranks,  the  tattered  flags,  the  wounded  and  the  whole 
.  Back  from  that  pit  of  Hades  in  sullen  billows  roll. 

TOWARD  evening  of  the  28th,  Henry  Bostwick  and 
another  scout  from  Terry  arrived  at  the  Far  West. 
They  had  been  looking  for  the  boat  and  had  fol- 
lowed the  Big  Horn  down  for  some  distance  in  their 
search.  They  reported  the  General  very  solicitous  con- 
cerning the  safety  and  whereabouts  of  the  steamer,  as  his 
supplies  were  nearly  exhausted  and  most  of  Custer's  pack 
animals  had  been  killed  in  the  fight  on  Reno's  hill.  Scouts 
had  previously  been  sent,  on  the  26th,  to  find  the  boat, 
but  had  failed  because  she  was  up  river  on  Captain  Baker's 
mistaken  quest,  while  they  had  searched  for  her  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Little  Big  Horn  and  lower  down.  Bostwick 
and  his  companion  at  once  returned  to  Terry  with  the 
information  of  her  position  and  the  next  morning  two  more 
scouts  reached  her  with  orders  that  she  be  made  ready  to 
carry  the  wounded  down  to  Fort  Lincoln. 

Here,  at  last,  was  something  active  to  be  done;    the 
long  period  of  idle  waiting  was  over.     The  messengers 

290 


The  AJtermath  of  Battle 


reported  that  over  half  a  hundred  wounded  were  being 
borne  down  the  valley  from  Reno's  field.  The  crew  and 
soldiers  under  Captains  Marsh  and  Baker  sprang  to  work 
with  a  will  to  prepare  the  steamer  for  their  coming.  The 
boilers  of  the  Far  West  stood  near  the  bow  and  between 
them  and  the  stern  was  a  wide,  open  space  where  Baker's 
men  had  made  their  quarters.  This  was  turned  into  a 
hospital,  and  under  directions  from  Doctor  Williams, 
the  army  surgeon  on  board,  the  floor  was  completely 
covered  to  a  depth  of  eighteen  inches  with  fresh  grass  cut 
from  the  low  marsh  lands  along  the  river.  When  it  had 
been  spread,  enough  new  tarpaulins  were  taken  from  the 
quartermaster's  stores  on  board  to  carpet  the  whole  like 
an  immense  mattress.  Around  the  sides  were  arranged 
the  medicine  chests,  ready  for  use.  After  all  was  com- 
pleted. Doctor  Williams  declared  it  to  be  the  best  field 
hospital  he  had  ever  seen. 

Meantime,  the  men  who  w^ere  escorting  the  wounded 
down  were  having  a  hard  time  in  the  rough  country  along 
the  Little  Big  Horn.  During  the  greater  part  of  the 
28th,  all  the  troops  on  the  scene  of  battle  had  been  en- 
gaged in  "burying"  the  dead  and  in  making  litters  with 
which  to  transport  the  wounded  to  the  boat.  An  ingen- 
ious officer  of  the  2nd  Cavalry,  Lieut.  G.  C.  Doane, 
undertook  to  construct  mule  litters  out  of  the  crude  ma- 
terials available.  Two  lodge  poles  taken  from  the  aban- 
doned hostile  camp  were  used  for  each  litter,  and  a  piece 
of  tent  canvas  was  stretched  between  them  and  fastened 
with  bits  of  rawhide  and  rope.     They  were  then  slung 

291 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


between  two  mules,  but  the  animals  proved  so  intractable 
that  the  attempt  was  abandoned  and  the  wounded  were 
placed  on  hand  litters  similarly  made  of  canvas  and  lodge 
poles. 

With  the  hand  litters  two  troops  of  the  2nd  Cavalry, 
acting  as  bearers  in  relays,  started  down  the  river  about 
sunset.  But  so  slow  and  exhausting  was  their  progress 
through  the  rough  country  that  they  had  covered  less 
than  five  miles  by  midnight,  and  were  then  forced  to  stop. 
The  next  day,  while  the  rest  of  the  troops  were  destroying 
the  abandoned  property  in  the  Sioux  camps.  Lieutenant 
Doane  and  his  assistants  resumed  the  construction  of 
mule  litters  and  by  evening  had  built  enough  to  accom- 
modate all  the  wounded.  A  careful  selection  was  made 
of  the  most  docile  mules  in  the  train  to  carry  them  and 
the  escort  with  their  pathetic  charges  again  started  at 
six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  four  men  accompanying  each 
litter  to  keep  the  mules  in  order.  All  worked  so  well  now 
that  instead  of  making  the  short  march  expected  it  was 
determined  to  attempt  to  reach  the  steamer  that  night 
in  order  that  the  suffering  men  might  be  placed  in  a  com- 
fortable resting  place  and  given  proper  medical  attention 
as  soon  as  possible.*  The  night  was  dark  and  stormy 
and  the  way  very  rough,  but  about  midnight  they  came 
to  the  low,  marshy  land  some  three  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  the  stream,  where  they  found  themselves  unable  to  go 
on  in  the  darkness. 

*  Gen.  John  Gibbon  in  his  official  report  of  the  campaign.  Secretary 
of  War,  1876-77. 


292 


The  Aftermath  of  Battle 


But  here  they  came  upon  some  steamboat  men  who 
had  been  sent  out  by  Captain  Marsli  when  he  saw  the 
cavalcade  approaching  at  dusk.  They  carried  word  to 
the  boat  of  the  condition  of  affairs,  and  Captain  Marsh 
instantly  ordered  out  his  entire  crew  to  build  fires  at 
frequent  intervals  along  the  trail  and  light  the  train  for- 
ward. With  such  timely  assistance  the  march  was  re- 
sumed, and  at  two  o'clock  the  head  of  the  column,  loom- 
ing weirdly  through  the  darkness  in  the  flickering  firelight, 
approached  the  boat.  Here  a  hundred  willing  hands 
tenderly  received  the  stricken  men  and  placed  them  in 
rows  on  the  grass-covered  deck,  where  the  surgeons. 
Doctors  Williams  and  H.  R.  Porter,  set  about  examining 
and  dressing  their  wounds.  There  were  fifty-two  injured 
men  brought  on  board. 

Doctor  Porter,  who  had  come  with  them  from  the 
battlefield,  was  the  only  surviving  surgeon  of  the  three 
who  had  gone  out  with  the  7th  Cavalry.  Doctor  Lord 
had  been  killed  with  Custer,  Doctor  De  Wolf  with  Reno, 
and  Doctor  Porter  himself  had  accompanied  the  latter's 
command.  W^hen  Reno's  hurried  flight  from  the  bottom 
began.  Porter  was  ministering  to  a  dying  soldier,  and  his 
experience  in  escaping  was  afterward  described  in  the 
following  graphic  language  by  a  Western  newspaper:* 

"Porter  was  by  the  side  of  a  dying  soldier.  His  orderly  and 
supplies  were  gone,  and  the  command  was  off  several  hundred 
yards.  He  was  alone.  Bullets  were  piercing  the  trees  and  a 
terrific  yeU  was  sounding  the  alarm  of  universal  death.     Porter 

*  The  St.  Paul  Pimeer-Presa. 

293 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


left  his  lost  patient  and  led  his  horse  to  the  embankment  that  pro- 
tected the  woods.  He  was  startled  by  Indians  dashing  by  him 
within  ten  feet.  They  were  rushing  along  the  foot  of  the  Uttle 
bluff.  Their  aim  was  so  directed  in  the  line  of  the  flying  bat- 
talion that  Porter's  presence  was  unnoticed.  He  was  unarmed, 
and  his  powerful  black  horse  reared  and  plunged  as  if  he  was 
mad.  Porter  saw  the  fate  that  was  in  the  immediate  future  if 
that  horse  escaped  before  he  was  on  his  back.  He  held  on  with 
superhuman  strength.  He  could  hold  him,  but  that  was  all. 
To  gain  the  saddle  seemed  a  forlorn  hope.  Leap  after  leap 
with  the  horse  quicker  than  he.  It  was  a  brief  ordeal,  but  in  the 
face  of  death  it  was  a  terrible  one.  One  supreme  effort  and,  half 
in  his  saddle,  the  dusky  charger  bore  away  his  master  like  the 
wind.  He  gained  the  full  seat,  and  lying  close  upon  his  savior's 
neck,  was  running  a  gauntlet  where  the  chances  of  death  were  a 
thousand  to  one.  The  Indians  were  quick  to  see  the  lone  rider 
and  a  storm  of  leaden  hail  fell  around  him.  He  had  no  control 
of  his  horse.  It  was  only  a  half-mile  dash,  but  it  was  a  wild  one. 
The  horse  was  frenzied.  He  reached  the  river  in  a  minute  and 
rushed  up  the  bluff,  where  Reno  had  gone,  and  was  then  recov- 
ering himself.     The  horse  and  rider  were  safe." 

All  through  that  afternoon  and  the  fearful  hours  of 
the  next  day,  doctor  Porter  had  worked  over  the  wounded 
and  dying  with  unremitting  heroism  and  total  disregard 
for  his  own  safety.  After  Terry's  relief  had  come  he  still 
continued  his  devoted  services,  which  did  not  cease  even 
after  his  charges  were  safely  on  the  boat.  He  was  a  man 
of  Spartan  mold,  whose  splendid  adherence  to  duty  has 
not  often  been  equaled  in  medical  history.  When  he 
came  on  board  the  Far  West,  Captain  Marsh  met  him, 
and,  after  wringing  his  hand  and  congratulating  him  on 
his  own  escape,  inquired  anxiously  for  Charlie  Reynolds. 

"Captain,"  answered  the  doctor,  sorrowfully,  "Charlie 
294 


The  Ajtermath  of  Battle 


Reynolds  is  dead.  He  fell  at  my  side.  I  was  tending 
a  dying  soldier  in  a  clump  of  bushes,  just  before  the 
retreat  to  the  bluffs,  when  it  happened.  The  bullets  were 
flying,  and  Reynolds  noticed  that  the  Indians  were  making 
a  special  target  of  me,  though  I  didn't  know  it.  He 
sprang  up  and  cried:  'Doctor,  the  Indians  are  shooting 
at  you!'  I  turned  to  look  and  in  the  same  instant  saw 
him  throw  up  his  hands  and  fall,  shot  through  the  heart."* 
It  was  sad  news  to  the  captain,  who  had  learned  a 
deep  regard  for  the  brave  and  modest  scout  during  the 
years  of  their  acquaintance.  But  there  was  no  time  to 
be  wasted  in  grief  that  night,  for  a  hundred  duties  called, 
and  the  captain  turned  away  to  look  after  the  accom- 
modation of  another  passenger  brought  down  with  the 
wounded,  whose  housing,  in  the  now  crowded  condition 
of  the  boat,  was  no  easy  problem.  The  passenger  in 
question  was  a  horse,  but  with  such  tender  interest  and 
affection  was  he  already  regarded  by  every  man  on  board 

*  To  obtain  further  particulars  of  Reynolds'  death,  the  author  wrote 
to  Major  Luther  R.  Hare,  U.  S.  A.,  who,  as  a  Second  Lieutenant  of  the 
7th  Cavalry,  was  second  in  command  of  the  company  of  Arikaree  scouts 
under  lieutenant  Charles  A.  Varnum,  at  the  Little  Big  Horn.  Major 
Hare  replied,  in  part,  a.s  follows: 

"I  saw  him"  (Reynolds)  "after  his  death  and  my  recollection  is  that 
he  was  buried  by  the  detail  that  I  was  in  charge  of,  or  it  may  have  been 
done  by  the  detail  that  Wallace  had  charge  of,  for  we  were  working 
together.  At  any  rate  he  was  killed  in  the  bottom  and  buried  there. 
I  have  no  recollection  of  any  conversation  with  Doctor  Porter  in  regard 
to  Reynolds'  death.  I  saw  him  several  times  during  the  fight  in  the 
bottom  and,  of  course,  noticed  and  was  impressed  by  his  wonderful 
coolness  and  apparent  indifference  to  the  warm  fire  that  was  being 
poured  in  on  us.  It  was  my  first  fight  and  my  recollections  of  such  men 
as  Benteen,  Godfrey  and  Reynolds  have  flashed  across  my  mind  in 
startling  vividness  in  the  beginning  of  every  engagement  in  which  I 
have  since  been  present." — J.  M.  H. 

295 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


that  they  would  almost  rather  have  been  left  behind 
themselves  than  to  have  had  him  deserted.  He  had  been 
the  sole  living  thing  found  on  the  Custer  field,  two  days 
after  the  battle. 

Lieutenant  Nolan,  of  Captain  M.  W.  Keogh's  troop,  I, 
who  had  been  on  detached  service  with  Terry's  staff,  was 
with  the  men  gathering  together  the  dead  and  discovered 
the  horse  standing  in  a  ravine,  covered  with  bullet  and 
arrow  wounds  and  half-dead  from  loss  of  blood.  He 
was  instantly  recognized  as  Comanche,  the  "claybank 
sorrel"  charger  of  Captain  Keogh,*  who,  with  his  whole 
troop,  had  perished  in  the  fight.  Lieutenant  Nolan  caused 
the  animal's  wounds  to  be  dressed  as  well  as  possible 
and  brought  him  to  the  boat.  Captain  Marsh  at  length 
found  a  place  for  Comanche  at  the  extreme  stern  of 
the  Far  West,  between  the  rudders.  Here  a  stall  softly 
bedded  with  grass  was  made  for  him  and  his  care  and 
welfare  became  the  special  duty  of  the  whole  boat's 
company. 

With  the  main  column,  which  arrived  at  the  river 
bank  not  long  after  the  wounded,  came  a  civilian  con- 
tract veterinary  surgeon,  whom  Captain  Marsh  describes 
as  "the  worst  scared  man  I  ever  saw."  The  terror  of 
the  Indians  had  entered  his  soul,  but  the  captain  induced 

♦General  Godfrey  writes  to  the  author:  "Comanche  belonged  to 
his"  (Keogh's)  "troop  'I,'  and  was  ridden  by  Captain  Keogh  when 
General  Sully  made  his  expedition  against  the  southern  Indians  in  Sep- 
tember, 1868,  to  the  Sand  Hills  on  the  North  Fork  of  the  Canadian, 
where  Camp  Supply  was  afterward  located.  On  that  expedition  the 
horse  was  wounded  under  Keogh  during  one  of  the  many  fights  he  had. 
Keogh  christened  him  'Comanche,'  and  always  after  that  rode  him  in 
the  field."— J.  M.  H. 

296 


o    i 


n 


tt 


►n 


s  o 


The  Aftermath  oj  Battle 


him  by  forcible  persuasions  to  control  his  fears  suffi- 
ciently to  extract  the  bullets  and  arrow-heads  from  Coman- 
che's body  and  to  dress  his  wounds  thoroughly.  The 
horse  began  to  mend  rapidly,  and  reached  Fort  Lincoln 
in  safety.  After  the  7th  Cavalry  returned  from  the  field, 
special  orders  were  issued  regarding  Comanche,  by  which 
he  was  made  the  particular  charge  of  the  regiment.  It 
was  ordered  that  from  that  time  forth  no  one  should 
ever  ride  him.  One  man  from  Troop  I  was  detailed 
as  his  keeper,  to  feed  and  care  for  him  and  to  lead  him, 
bridled  and  saddled  and  draped  in  black,  on  all  dress 
parades  and  other  occasions  of  regimental  ceremony. 
Wherever  the  7th  Cavalry  went,  Comanche  went  with 
it,  first  to  Fort  Meade,  Dakota,  in  1879;  and  then,  in 
1888,  to  Fort  Riley,  Kansas.  When,  at  last,  his  time 
came,  more  than  twelve  years  after  the  battle  in  which 
he  bore  so  distinguished  a  part,  Comanche  died  full  of 
years  and  honors. 

The  wounded  had  scarcely  been  cared  for  on  that 
early  morning  of  the  30th  of  June,  when  General  Terry 
and  his  staff  and  Major  Brisbin,  travel-stained,  weary, 
and  utterly  depressed  by  the  events  of  the  past  few  days, 
arrived  at  the  boat  and  re-established  headquarters  on 
board,  General  Gibbon  now  being  near  the  bank  also 
with  his  own  troops  and  the  remains  of  the  7th  Cavalry 
under  Major  Reno.  The  troops  were  to  march  down 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn  and  rations  for  the  journey 
were  issued  to  them  from  the  boat.  Dawn  was  now 
breaking  and  it  was  time  for  the  Far  West  to  start  on  the 

297 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


first  stage  of  her  long  trip  to  Fort  Lincoln,  where  the 
wounded  were  to  be  brought  as  soon  as  steam  could 
carry  them.  Plenty  of  fuel  had  been  stored  up  during 
the  days  of  idleness,  everything  was  ready  and  Captain 
Marsh  was  just  preparing  to  have  the  lines  cast  off  when 
he  received  a  message  asking  him  to  come  to  General 
Terry's  cabin.  He  found  the  General  alone  and,  as  he 
entered,  Terry  arose  and  closed  the  door.  Then,  turning, 
Terry  said  to  him,  with  great  earnestness : 

"Captain,  you  are  about  to  start  on  a  trip  with  fifty- 
two  wounded  men  on  your  boat.  This  is  a  bad  river  to 
navigate  and  accidents  are  liable  to  happen.  I  wish  to 
ask  of  you  that  you  use  all  the  skill  you  possess,  all  the 
caution  you  can  command,  to  make  the  journey  safely. 
Captain,  you  have  on  board  the  most  precious  cargo  a 
boat  ever  carried.  Every  soldier  here  who  is  suffering 
with  wounds  is  the  victim  of  a  terrible  blunder;  a  sad 
and   terrible  blunder." 

The  last  words  were  spoken  with  a  depth  of  emotion 
surprising  to  the  captain,  who  had  never  seen  his  usually 
self-controlled  commander  so  strongly  moved.  But  the 
contrast  to  his  usual  manner  only  served  to  make  his 
speech  the  more  impressive.  With  equal  feeling  Captain 
Marsh  assured  him  that  he  would  use  his  best  efforts  to 
complete  the  journey  successfully.  He  then  left  the  cabin 
and  returned  to  the  pilot-house. 

It  was  now  full  daylight.  Down  on  the  main  deck 
George  Foulk  stood  by  his  levers,  waiting  for  the  pilot's 
bell  to  start  the  engines.     But  as  Captain  Marsh  stepped 

298 


The  AfterviatJi  oj  Battle 


into  the  pilot-house  and  put  his  hand  on  the  famihar 
spokes  of  the  steering-wheel,  a  strange  weakness  such  as 
he  had  never  before  felt,  swept  over  him  and  he  dared 
not  pull  the  bell  cord.  He  leaned  back  against  the  wall 
and  looked  out  over  the  narrow  river,  rushing  between  the 
main  bank  and  the  islands  below,  while  into  his  mind 
came  the  vision  of  all  the  helpless  men  lying  on  the  decks 
under  him.  The  thought  that  all  their  lives  were  depend- 
ing on  his  skill  alone,  the  sense  of  his  fearful  responsi- 
bility, flashed  upon  him  and  for  a  moment  overwhelmed 
him.  It  seemed  that  he  could  never  turn  the  boat  in 
that  restricted  channel  and  head  her  down  past  the  island. 
Dave  Campbell  and  Mate  Ben  Thompson  were  sitting 
on  the  pilot's  bench  behind  him.  He  turned  to  them, 
saying,  weakly: 

"Boys,  I  can't  do  it.     I'll  smash  her  up." 
"  Oh,  no,  you  won't,"  answered  Campbell,  reassuringly. 
"You're  excited.     Cool  off  a  minute  and  you'll  be  all 
right." 

The  captain  took  his  advice.  After  a  moment  which 
seemed  an  hour,  his  strength  began  to  return  and  pres- 
ently he  pulled  the  bell  cord.  The  boat  swTing  slowly 
around,  headed  down,  clearing  the  island  nicely,  and  after 
he  had  gotten  her  straightened  out  and  had  crossed  a 
couple  of  bends,  the  captain  recovered  his  composure. 
But  he  declares  that  never  again  does  he  want  to  experi- 
ence such  a  sickening  sensation  of  utter  helplessness  as 
gripped  him  that  morning  in  the  pilot-house  of  the  Far 
West. 

299 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Aided  by  the  swift  current,  the  boat  covered  the  fifty- 
three  miles  to  the  Yellowstone  with  all  the  speed  it  was 
safe  to  give  her,  dodging  in  and  out  among  the  Big  Horn's 
multitude  of  islands,  which  the  captain  knew  only  froij 
having  passed  them  once  before.  It  is  said  that  a  n\ 
pilot  only  half  knows  his  river  when  he  has  run  it  I 
one  way,  for  the  landmarks  he  passes  going  up  bear 
totally  unfamiliar  aspect  when  seen  again  going  down. 
But  on  that  30th  of  June,  1876,  the  Far  West  was  brought 
safely  through  all  the  pitfalls  of  the  Big  Horn,  and  late 
in  the  afternoon  tied  up  to  the  bank  of  the  Yellowstone 
where  Gibbon's  wagon-train  was  parked.  From  here, 
the  next  morning,  "  Muggins "  Taylor  left  for  his  long, 
lonely  ride  of  175  miles  to  Fort  Ellis,  with  the  despatches 
of  General  Gibbon,  General  Terry  intending  to  send  his 
official  announcement  of  the  disaster  down  to  Bismarck 
by  the  Far  West  for  transmission  to  division  headquarters. 
The  young  clerk  of  the  Far  West,  Walter  Burleigh,  was 
very  anxious  to  accompany  Taylor,  but  the  captain  dis- 
suaded him,  as  the  trip  would  by  no  means  be  without 
danger  from  roving  parties  of  Sioux. 


300 


1 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

THE   FAR    WEST   RACES   WITH    DEATH 

Sing  ho!  fer  the  steam-chesfa  pmindin'  cough, 
A-ahakin'  the  nuts  o'  the  guy-rods  ojj 
To  the  beat  o'  the  piston's  run. 

THOUGH  every  instinct  of  humanity  demanded 
that  the  suffering  wounded  be  taken  to  Fort 
Lincohi  without  delay,  mihtary  necessity  re- 
quired the  Far  West  to  await  Gibbon's  troops  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Big  Horn,  whence  they  were  to  be  ferried 
across  to  the  north  bank  of  the  Yellowstone  for  rest 
and  refitting.  After  their  rough  experience  they  were 
in  no  condition  to  continue  the  campaign  and,  even  had 
they  been  in  condition,  the  disaster  to  the  7th  Cavalry 
had  demonstrated  that  they  would  have  to  be  heavily  re- 
enforced  before  they  would  be  able  to  deal  effectively 
with  the  unexpected  strength  of  the  hostiles.  The  boat 
lay  at  the  bank  through  Saturday  and  Sunday,  July  1st 
and  2nd,  waiting  for  the  column.  On  Sunday  evening  it 
at  last  appeared  and  the  next  morning  was  carried  over, 
leaving  the  south  side  of  the  river  temporarily  abandoned, 
save  for  the  distant  forces  of  Crook,  from  whom  not  a 
word  had  been  received  and  whose  whereabouts  were 
a  subject  of  grave  speculation. 

301 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


From  the  capacious  hold  of  the  Far  West,  Gibbons' 
men  were  furnished  with  many  supplies  of  which  they 
stood  in  immediate  need.  But  she  could  not  replace 
the  pack-mules  or  the  cavalry  horses  killed  in  action, 
whose  loss  had  paralyzed  the  column  as  an  offensive  force. 
When  all  the  troops  had  been  taken  over  to  the  north 
bank,  Captain  Baker's  company  of  the  6th  Infantry  was 
relieved  from  duty  on  the  steamer  and  put  ashore  also, 
General  Terry  having  determined  to  concentrate  all  his 
available  forces  in  the  camp  opposite  the  Big  Horn.  In 
pursuance  of  his  plan,  he  soon  sent  orders  to  Major 
Moore  to  evacuate  his  position  at  the  mouth  of  the  Powder 
and  march  up  to  the  main  camp.  The  places  of  Captain 
Baker's  men  on  the  boat  were  partly  filled  by  seventeen 
dismounted  troopers  of  the  7th  Cavalry,  who  had  lost 
their  horses  in  the  battle.  The  cavalrymen  came  aboard 
in  a  rather  indefinite  capacity.  Without  their  mounts 
they  were  temporarily  useless  in  the  field  and  were  per- 
mitted, though  not  ordered,  to  accompany  the  steamer 
to  Fort  Lincoln,  since  they  could  be  of  assistance  in 
caring  for  their  wounded  comrades.  They  were  from 
several  different  troops  and  had  no  ofiicially  appointed 
commander,  though  virtually  they  were  in  charge  of 
the  senior  non-commissioned  officer  among  them,  Sergt. 
M.  C.  Caddie.  Under  his  leadership  they  not  only  ren- 
dered good  hospital  service  but  aided  Captain  Marsh 
greatly  by  helping  with  the  wooding  and  by  performing 
other  work  on  the  boat  not  required  of  them  as  military 
duty,  but  for  which  they  cheerfully  volunteered. 

302 


The  "Far  WesV  Races  with  Death 

By  the  time  the  Far  West  was  ready  to  start  down  the 
river  fourteen  of  the  wounded  men  were  so  far  recovered 
as  to  be  able  to  remain  at  the  camp.  They  went  ashore, 
as  did  General  Terry  and  Major  Brisbin,  and  at  five 
o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  July  3rd  the  steamer,  followed 
by  the  cheers  and  fervent  good  wishes  of  the  assembled 
troops,  backed  away  from  the  bank  and  started  her  pad- 
dles for  Bismarck  and  Fort  Lincoln,  700  miles  away. 
Thirty-eight  sorely  wounded  soldiers  were  still  in  her  deck 
hospital,  and  in  her  cabin  traveled  Capt.  E.  W.  Smith, 
aide-de-camp  to  General  Terry,  on  his  way  to  Bismarck 
with  despatches  for  Division  Headquarters  at  Chicago, 
and  carrying,  besides,  a  bag  full  of  letters  from  other 
members  of  the  expedition  and  a  great  number  of  mes- 
sages to  be  put  on  the  wire  for  distant  friends. 

The  boat  had  scarcely  left  the  bank  before  she  was 
under  full  head  of  steam.  There  was  to  be  no  tying  up 
for  darkness  that  night.  Captain  Marsh's  orders  were 
to  reach  Bismarck  in  the  shortest  possible  time  and,  as 
always,  he  took  them  literally.  Every  man  on  board  was 
steeled  to  do  his  utmost  and  nobly  each  performed  his 
part.  The  river  was  fortunately  high,  but,  even  so,  it 
was  perilous  work  driving  a  steamboat  at  top  speed  down 
such  a  channel.  Through  the  hours  of  the  short  midsum- 
mer night  and  the  glaring  sunlight  of  the  next  day  the 
Far  West  rushed  on,  Foulk  and  John  Hardy  crowding 
on  the  steam  until  a  glance  at  the  gauge  turned  them 
dizzy;  Marsh  and  Campbell,  in  four-hour  reliefs  "on  the 
roof,"  holding  the  wheel  with  iron  grip  as  they  strained 

303 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


their  eyes  over  the  narrow  channel  ahead  and  spun  the 
boat  in  and  out  between  islands  and  rocks.  On  the  Far 
West  few  thoughts  were  given  to  the  significance  of  the 
day,  that  Fourth  of  July.  Thousands  of  miles  away 
in  the  palaces  of  the  Centennial  Exposition  at  Philadel- 
phia, vast  throngs  were  bidding  welcome  to  the  one  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  Nation's  birth.  From  the 
peaceful  hamlets  nestled  among  New  England's  hills  to 
the  mining  camps  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  the  freemen  of 
Columbia  were  giving  themselves  over  to  joyous  celebra- 
tion of  the  great  event.  Yet  surely  nowhere  beneath 
the  shadow  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  men  engaged 
in  more  patriotic  duty  than  those  who  trod  the  decks  of 
the  Far  West.  From  bow  to  stern  her  timbers  were 
quivering  to  the  incessant  clang  and  cough  of  the  ma- 
chinery as  shirtless  firemen,  sweating  and  grimy,  stood 
before  the  furnaces,  cramming  fuel  into  the  hungry  flames. 
Now  and  then  the  hoarse  bellow  of  the  whistle  sent 
its  echoes  reverberating  along  the  bald  clijff  sides,  start- 
ling the  grazing  herds  of  buffalo  and  elk  to  wild  stampede 
from  the  fiery  monster  that  came  tearing,  like  a  demon 
of  destruction,  into  their  solitudes.  Now  and  then  the 
keel  scraped  along  a  projecting  bar  and  sheered  off 
violently,  throwing  the  men  to  the  deck  like  tenpins. 
A  hundred  times  it  seemed  as  if  she  would  be  dashed  to 
pieces,  but  each  time  the  skill  of  the  pilots  saved  her  and 
she  sped  on  with  her  message  of  disaster  to  a  waiting 
nation  and  her  burden  of  suffering  humanity  groaning 
for  relief.     General  Godfrey  says  of  the  run  of  the  Far 

304 


The  ''Far  WesV  Races  with  Death 

West:  "  I  remember  how  thrilled  we  were  to  hear  Colonel 
Smith,  Assistant  Adjutant- General  of  the  expedition, 
when  relating  his  experiences  of  the  down  river  trip; 
how  the  boat  would  skim  over  a  bar;  how,  in  turning 
a  bend,  the  treacherous  current  would  push  her  bow  over 
so  as  to  run  her  nose  into  the  bank,  but  more  often  would 
carrom  her  hull  against  it.  But  Grant  Marsh  never 
hesitated  to  take  reasonable  chances  to  save  distance 
or  to  make  speed,  and  he  made  good." 

The  heroic  Doctor  Porter,  working  without  interrup- 
tion, lost  one  of  his  patients  in  the  early  morning  hours 
of  the  4th,  Private  William  George,  of  H  Troop,  shot 
through  the  left  side  on  Reno's  Hill.  At  Powder  River 
the  boat  stopped  long  enough  to  have  his  body  interred 
and  to  confirm  the  news  of  battle  to  Major  Moore's 
little  garrison,  still  encamped  there,  who  had  hardly 
believed  Reno's  stampeded  Arikaree  scouts.  Then,  after 
taking  on  board  the  private  property  of  the  officers  killed 
on  the  Little  Big  Horn,  which  had  been  left  at  the 
Powder  with  the  wagons,  she  was  off  again.  Near  old 
Stanley's  Stockade  she  passed  the  Josephine,  Captain  Mart 
Coulson,  upward  bound  with  supplies  for  Terry's  column, 
but  the  Far  West  merely  hailed  as  they  hauled  abreast 
without  abating  her  speed.  Then  out  of  the  Yellowstone 
she  shot  into  the  Missouri,  whose  channel  seemed  spacious 
indeed  after  the  mountain  stream  she  had  been  threading. 
At  Fort  Buford  there  w  as  a  momentary  stop  to  put  off  a 
wounded  Arikaree  scout.  The  garrison  went  wild  with 
excitement.     Men  crowded  upon  the  boat,  shouting  and 

305 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


begging  for  news.  Their  questions  were  not  half  an- 
swered when  they  were  cleared  from  the  decks  and  the 
boat  was  out  in  the  stream  again.  At  Fort  Stevenson, 
during  the  afternoon  of  the  5th,  she  halted  once  more,  and 
again  leaving  a  garrison  convulsed  with  unsatisfied  anx- 
iety, she  leaped  out  on  the  last  lap,  straight  away  for 
Bismarck.  After  leaving  Stevenson,  Captain  Marsh,  in 
accordance  with  General  Terry's  order,  draped  the  derrick 
and  jack-staff  of  the  boat  with  black  and  hoisted  her  flag 
at  half-mast,  in  honor  of  the  dead  and  wounded. 

Night  and  day  all  had  been  the  same  on  the  Far  West. 
But  when  through  the  darkness  the  lights  of  Bismarck 
loomed  ahead,  men  looked  at  their  watches  and  saw 
that  it  was  eleven  o'clock  as  her  bow  touched  the  bank 
and  she  came  to  rest  at  her  journey's  end,  just  fifty-four 
hours  out  from  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Horn.  She  had 
covered  710  miles*  at  the  average  rate  of  thirteen  and 
one-seventh  miles  per  hour  and,  though  no  one  stopped 
to  think  of  it  then,  she  had  made  herself  the  speed  cham- 
pion of  the  Missouri  River,  with  a  record  unequaled 
by  any  other  craft  that  had  ever  floated  on  the  turbulent 
stream  or  its  tributaries,  from  St.  Louis  to  Fort  Ben- 
ton. Her  accomplishment  had  been  performed  in  the 
line  of  duty  alone,  with  no  desire  for  the  winning  of 
laurels  other  than  the  gratitude  of  those  she  served. 

The  boat  had  barely  touched  the  bank  when  her 
officers  and  men  were  off,  running  up  the  streets  and 

*  The  Missouri  River  Commission's  Report  for  1897  makes  the  dis- 
tance 920  miles,  but  this  is  not  borne  out  by  the  distance  tables. 


306 


w 


r.B 


^  -I 


^#^ 


The  ''Far  WesV  Races  with  Death 

rousing  the  sleeping  town.  It  was  like  the  night  that 
Concord  was  startled  from  slumber  by  the  hoof-beats 
of  Paul  Revere 's  horse,  galloping  down  the  elm-shadowed 
streets  on  his  mission  of  warning.  Men  ran  from  their 
houses  half-dressed  and  disheveled,  in  every  direction 
lights  flashed  at  the  windows.  The  first  men  routed 
from  their  beds  were  C.  A.  Lounsberry,  the  editor  of 
the  Bismarck  Tribune,  and  J.  M.  Carnahan,  the  tele- 
graph operator.  They,  together  with  Captain  Marsh, 
Doctor  Porter,  Captain  Smith,  and  a  number  of  others 
from  the  boat,  hurried  to  the  telegraph  office  and  Carna- 
han took  his  seat  at  the  key,  from  which  he  scarcely 
raised  himself  for  twenty-two  hours. 

Editor  Lounsberry,  who  was  also  the  accredited  cor- 
respondent of  the  New  York  Herald,  prepared  copy, 
handing  it  over  to  Carnahan  as  fast  as  the  latter  could 
send  it.*  None  of  them  thought  of  tiring,  for  it  was 
the  most  thrilling  work  they  had  ever  done.  The  words 
they  were  sending  would  soon  be  flashing  around  the 
world.  The  first  message  was  a  brief  bulletin  to  the 
New  York  Herald,  reading  as  follows: 

"Bismarck,  D.  T.,  July  5,  1876: — General  Custer  attacked 
the  Indians  June  25,  and  he,  with  every  officer  and  man  in  five 
companies,  were  killed.  Reno  with  seven  companies  fought 
in  intrenched  position  three  days.  The  Bismarck  Tribune  s 
special  correspondent  was  with  the  expedition  and  was  killed." 

*  The  details  of  the  work  done  that  night,  as  well  as  the  facts  relating 
to  the  question  of  whether  the  Far  \{  est  brought  the  first  authentic 
news  of  the  battle,  have  been  largely  gathered  from  Col.  C.  A.  Lounsberry 
who,  in  correspondence  with  the  author,  has  kindly  furnished  him  with 
full  information. — J.  M.  H. 

307 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Then  the  little  party  in  the  telegraph  office  settled 
down  to  work  in  earnest,  Lounsberry's  hand  flying  over 
sheet  after  sheet  as  he  wove  the  tremendous  story  poured 
into  his  ears  by  the  participants.  There  was  over  a 
column  of  notes  on  the  campaign  up  to  the  day  of  battle, 
written  by  Mark  Kellogg  and  rescued  by  General  Terry 
himself  from  the  pouch  beside  the  correspondent's  body. 
There  were  two  columns  of  comment  and  description 
sent  down  by  Major  Brisbin.  Then  came  interviews 
with  Captain  Smith,  Doctor  Porter,  Captain  Marsh, 
Fred  Girard,  and  the  stories  of  General  Terry,  of  Curley, 
of  some  of  the  wounded,  and  of  the  death  of  Charlie 
Reynolds.  During  a  lull  when  Carnahan's  key  for  a 
moment  ceased  clicking,  Lounsberry  flung  over  to  him 
a  copy  of  the  New  Testament,  exclaiming: 

"Take  this!  Fire  it  in  when  you  run  out  of  copy. 
Hold  the  wires.  Tell  'em  it's  coming  and  to  hold  the 
key!" 

Now  followed  the  full  list  of  the  killed  and  wounded, 
and  now,  in  the  early  morning  hours,  the  message  written 
by  Captain  Smith  for  the  widows  at  Fort  Lincoln,  which 
was  being  carried  to  them  by  the  Far  West,  dropping 
down  to  the  fort  with  the  wounded.  Through  the  day 
the  story  grew  until,  when  it  was  finished,  more  than 
15,000  words  had  been  transmitted.  It  cost  the  New 
York  Herald  $3,000  but  it  was  worth  the  money,  for  it 
was  the  biggest  "beat"  in  newspaper  history.  The 
Herald  at  once  adopted  Kellogg  as  having  been  its  special 
correspondent.     That  it  did  so  was  well  for  his  widow 

308 


The  ''Far  West''  Races  with  Death 


and  children,  for  the  great  metropolitan  daily  sent  $S^,000 
to  them.  But  it  was  not  strictly  true.  Colonel  I^ouns- 
beny  was  the  Herald's  correspondent  and  up  to  the 
moment  when  Custer's  column  left  for  the  field  he  had 
expected  to  accompany  it.  Then  his  wife  fell  ill  and 
Kellogg,  a  reporter  employed  by  him  on  the  TribunCy 
went  instead. 

The  tidings  fell  on  the  outer  world  like  a  thunderbolt. 
No  previous  news  of  a  credible  nature  had  reached  the 
country  that  such  a  disaster  had  befallen.  Before  the 
official  despatches  from  General  Terry  to  General  Sheri- 
dan had  been  given  out,  the  press  of  the  whole  nation 
was  demanding  that  the  Government  prosecute  the  cam- 
paign against  the  Indians  until  every  hostile  should  be 
either  dead  or  disarmed.  And  as  will  be  seen,  the  Gov- 
ernment obeyed  the  demand. 

It  has  been  claimed  at  different  times  and  by  various 
authorities*  that  Captain  Marsh  and  the  Far  West  did 
not  bring  the  first  news  of  the  battle  of  the  Little  Big 
Horn  to  the  outside  world,  the  credit  being  given  instead 
to  "Muggins"  Taylor.  Such  claims  are  without  foun- 
dation in  fact.  The  Far  West  brought  the  first  news  of 
a  credible  nature,  though  from  Montana  emanated  at 
about  the  same  time  a  few  garbled  rumors  which  received 
publication  but  no  credit  from  persons  in  a  position  to 
judge  of  their  value.  As  has  been  seen,  Taylor  left  the 
Far  West  on  the  morning  of  July  1st,  at  the  mouth  of 

*  See  "  History  of  Early  Steamboat  Navigation  on  the  Missouri  River," 
by  Col.  H.  M.  Chittenden,  U.  S.  A.,  for  example. 

309 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Big  Horn,  having  175  miles  to  travel  before  he  could 
reach  Fort  Ellis  and  Bozeman,  the  nearest  telegraph  sta- 
tions. On  July  2nd  he  came  to  Stillwater  Creek,  where 
he  overtook  a  discharged  wagon-train  returning  from 
Gibbon's  column  to  the  settlements.  To  the  men  with 
it  he  gave  some  news,  and  one  of  them  started  with  it 
for  Bozeman,  arriving  there  on  the  same  day  as  Taylor, 
July  5th,  in  the  evening.  Taylor  was  seen  in  Bozeman 
by  reporters,  who  gathered  from  him  enough  to  transmit 
brief  reports  to  some  Helena,  Montana  and  Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah,  papers,  which  appeared  in  their  morning 
editions.  The  nature  of  these  reports  may  be  gathered 
from  the  following,  which  was  published  as  an  extra 
by  the  Helena  Indepedent  on  the  morning  of  July  6th, 
and  which  is  a  fair  example  of  the  rendition  given  to 
Taylor's  story  by  the  few  papers  using  it: 

"Advices  just  received  from  the  Diamond  R  outfit  with  Gib- 
bon report  a  terrible  battle  with  the  Indians  on  the  Little  Big 
Horn  River.  Custer  attacked  a  camp  of  4,000  Sioux  and  after  a 
desperate  battle  defeated  them.  Three  hundred  soldiers  and 
fifteen  ofiicers  were  killed  and  Custer  himself,  as  reported  in 
another  dispatch,  is  slain.  The  battle  ground  is  literally  covered 
with  slain.  The  Indians  retreated.  Gibbon  was  thirty-six 
hours  too  late  for  the  battle."  * 

On  the  same  morning  the  Bismarck  Tribune  published 
an  extra  containing  an  accurate  and  complete  account 
of  the  battle  of  nearly  2,500  words,  to  which  was  ap- 
pended a  complete  list  of  the  killed  and  wounded,  detail- 
ing in  the  case  of  the  latter  the  nature  of  their  injuries. 

*  "  Contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana,"  Vol.  4. 

310 


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The  ''Far  West''  Races  with  Death 

It  was  one  of  the  best  pieces  of  newspaper  composition 
ever  produced  in  the  West  and  few  of  the  subsequent 
histories  of  the  fight  possess  the  vivid  dramatic  power 
of  this  first  story,  written  under  the  impulse  of  intense 
excitement.  Taylor's  report,  which  came  from  Gibbon 
and  contained,  at  best,  no  news  whatever  of  Terry,  was 
telegraphed  from  Salt  Lake  City  during  the  day  and 
received  publication  in  some  eastern  papers.  General 
Sheridan  was  interviewed  and  commented  upon  it  as  fol- 
lows, as  reported  in  the  New  York  Herald: 

"It  comes  without  any  marks  of  credence;  it  does  not  come  to 
Headquarters;  it  does  not  come  to  the  leading  papers  from 
special  correspondents;  it  is  not  given  to  the  press  for  telegraph- 
ing, but  appears  first  in  a  Salt  Lake  and  Montana  paper.  These 
scouts  on  the  frontier  have  a  way  of  spreading  news,  and  all 
frontier  stories,  especially  about  Indian  wars,  are  to  be  care- 
fully considered." 

Everyone  in  authority  concurred  in  Sheridan's  opinion, 
and  the  news  of  battle  was  not  believed  in  the  East  until 
the  full  accounts  from  Bismarck,  via  St.  Paul,  came 
in  on  the  7th.  St.  Paul  itself  had  meantime  learned  all 
about  events  on  the  6th,  from  the  same  accounts,  but 
the  latter  did  not  get  further  on  that  day  because  the 
Bismarck  wire  only  worked  direct  as  far  as  St.  Paul. 
But  even  under  such  conditions  the  military  authorities 
received  no  official  confirmation  of  the  reports,  either 
from  Bismarck  or  from  Fort  Ellis,  until  after  the  newspaper 
stories  had  been  published  everywhere. 

After  her  arrival  at  Bismarck,  the  Far  West  lay  there 
only  a  few  hours.     Then   Captain   Marsh   returned   on 

311 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


board,  and  she  started  for  Fort  Lincoln  with  the  wounded 
and  Captain  Smith's  message  to  the  widows.  In  the  twi- 
hght  just  before  sunrise  she  arrived.  General  Godfrey, 
in  a  letter  to  the  author,  says: 

"I  have  heard  the  women,  wives  of  oflBcers,  tell  of  their 
intense  excitement  when  they  heard  the  whistle  blast  of  the 
Far  West  as  she  approached  Bismarck  on  that  July  evening; 
how  they  waited  and  waited  for  tidings,  each  afraid  to  tell  her 
thoughts  and  anxieties,  till  near  midnight,  when,  with  heavy 
hearts,  almost  with  sobs,  they  separated  and  went  to  their 
homes.  My  wife  told  me  how  she  tossed  with  restlessness  till 
dawn,  when  she  was  startled  from  a  doze  by  a  tap  on  her 
window  and  instantly,  suppressing  a  scream,  exclaimed: 

"  '  Is  my  husband  killed .'' ' 

"  She  was  answered  by  a  voice  choked  with  emotion : 

"  '  No,  dear,  your  husband  is  safe  and  Mrs.  Moylan's  is  safe, 
but  all  the  rest  are  killed.' 

*'  Then  came  the  heart-breaking  task  of  telling  the  news  to 
the  widows." 

Lieut.  C.  L.  Gurley,  6th  Infantry,  has  narrated  what 

followed :  * 

"The  news  came  to  me  about  2  A.  M.  William  S.  McCas- 
key,  20th  Infantry,  summoned  all  the  oflBcers  to  his  quarters  at 
once,  and  there  read  to  them  the  communication  he  had  just 
received — per  steamer  Far  West,  from  Capt.  Ed.  W.  Smith, 
General  Terry's  adjutant  general.  After  we  had  recovered  from 
the  shock,  Captain  McCaskey  requested  us  to  assist  him  in 
breaking  the  news  to  the  widows.  It  fell  to  my  lot  to  accom- 
pany Captain  McCaskey  and  Dr.  J.  V.  D.  Middleton,  our  post 
surgeon,  to  the  quarters  of  Mrs.  Custer,  immediately  east  of 
those  occupied  by  myself.  We  started  on  our  sad  errand  a 
little  before  seven  o'clock  on  that  6th  of  July  morning.     I  went 

*  From  a  clipping  of  a  newspaper  interview  contained  in  the  scrap- 
book  of  the  late  Dt.  H.  R.  Porter,  kindly  loaned  to  the  author  by  his  son 
Mr.  H.  V.  Porter,  of  Bismarck,  N.  Dakota. 


312 


The  '''Far  WesV  Races  with  Death 


to  the  rear  of  the  Custer  house,  woke  up  Maria,  Mrs.  Custer's 
housemaid,  and  requested  her  to  rap  on  Mrs.  Custer's  door, 
and  say  to  her  that  she  and  Mrs.  Callioun  and  Miss  Reed  were 
wanted  in  the  parlor.  On  my  way  through  the  hall  to  open  the 
front  door,  I  heard  the  opening  of  the  door  of  Mrs.  Custer's 
room.  She  had  been  awakened  by  the  footsteps  in  the  hall. 
She  called  me  by  name  and  asked  me  the  cause  of  my  early 
visit.  I  made  no  reply,  but  followed  Captain  McCaskey  and 
Doctor  Middleton  into  the  parlor.  There  we  were  almost  im- 
mediately followed  by  the  ladies  of  the  Custer  household,  and 
there  we  told  to  them  their  fir.st  intimation  of  the  awful  result 
of  the  battle  on  the  Little  Big  Horn. 

"Imagine  the  grief  of  those  stricken  women,  their  sobs,  their 
flood  of  tears,  the  grief  that  knew  no  consolation.  The  fearful 
depression  that  had  hung  over  the  fort  for  the  past  two  days  had 
its  explanation  then.  It  was  almost  stifling.  Men  and  women 
moved  anxiously,  nervously,  straining  their  eyes  for  the  ex- 
pected messenger,  listening  as  footsteps  fell.  There  was  whis- 
pering and  excitement  among  the  Indian  pohce.  There  were 
rumors  of  a  great  battle.  Those  who  saw  the  Indians  and  wit- 
nessed their  movements  knew  that  something  unusual  must 
have  happened.  But  what.''  Who  would  not  give  worlds  to 
know  just  why  all  this  excitement  among  the  Indians?  Fleet- 
footed  warriors,  mounted  on  still  fleeter  animals,  aided  per- 
haps by  signals,  had  brought  the  news  even  before  the  Far  West 
came,  but  no  white  man  knew.  That  it  brought  joy  to  them 
was  reason  enough  why  it  should  have  brought  depression  to  the 
whites."  * 

*  As  witnessing  the  rapidity  with  which  the  Indians  could  transmit 
intelligence  to  distant  points,  General  Godfrey  wrote  to  the  author  after 
reading  the  above: 

"  Among  papers  sent  out  to  the  command  that  summer,  I  remember 
to  have  read  m  a  Cincinnati  paper  (the  Commercial,  I  think)  a  little 
paragraph  in  a  rather  obscure  place  dated  Omaha,  June  30,  stating  that 
a  despatch  from  Camp  Robinson  (or  Camp  Sheridan)  said  that  runners 
from  the  hostile  camp  had  arrived  wth  news  that  the  hostiles  had  had 
a  big  fight  with  soldiers  and  been  whipped  and  that  the  soldiers  were  not 
of  General  Crook's  command.  I  think  this  despatch  located  the  fight 
on  the  'Greasy  Grass.'" 

313 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


There  were  twenty-eight  widows  in  stricken  Fort 
Lincoln  that  morning,  and  Captain  Marsh  never  wit- 
nessed such  a  scene  as  followed  the  announcement  of 
the  awful  tidings.  Everyone  in  the  post  was  frantic, 
and  men,  women,  and  children  came  running  to  the 
boat,  sobbing  and  moaning  as  they  begged  for  news. 
Some  of  the  poor,  frightened  families  of  the  men  in  ranks 
received  the  blessed  assurance  that  their  dear  ones  were 
safe,  but  to  many  the  only  answer  could  be  a  sad  confir- 
mation of  their  fears,  from  which  they  turned  away 
with  breaking  hearts.  Two  days  after  the  arrival  of 
the  Far  West,  when  the  wounded  had  been  made  com- 
fortable in  the  post  hospital,  Mrs.  Custer  sent  Doctor 
Middleton  in  her  carriage  to  the  boat  landing  with  the 
request  that  Captain  Marsh  come  up  and  see  her  and 
the  other  bereaved  women.  But  he  could  not  bear  the 
thought  of  witnessing  their  grief,  and  declined.  He 
never  saw  one  of  them  after  that  bright  May  morning 
when,  happy  and  light-hearted,  they  had  lunched  with 
him  in  the  cabin  of  the  Far  West,  little  anticipating  the 
sorrow  which  was  so  soon  to  be  theirs. 

So  ended,  in  gloom  and  failure,  the  campaign  for 
which  such  high  hopes  had  been  entertained.  Though 
much  still  remained  to  be  done,  though  troops  were 
already  mustering  to  prosecute  to  a  successful  conclusion 
the  work  begun,  the  Custer  campaign  proper,  in  which 
Captain  Marsh  and  his  stanch  craft  had  borne  so  con- 
spicuous a  part,  was  over.  When  a  soldier's  work  is 
completed,  it  is  one  of  his  chief  ambitions  to  find  his  name 

314 


mtam 

PhotOKraph  by  Li>h  ^^^o^hlnl^;o 


crSIER    MOMMENT 


The  ''Far  WesV  Races  with  Death 

honorably  mentioned  by  his  commander  in  "official  re- 
ports." In  Captain  Marsh's  portfolio  of  treasured  docu- 
ments is  a  paper,  inscribed  by  an  army  officer  for  his  old 
friend,  "the  army's  steamboat  captain."  It  is  written 
with  the  ornamental  lettering  and  the  underscorings 
of  red  ink  characteristic  of  engrossed  copies.  It  reads 
as  follows: 

"Extract  from  General  Terry's  Annual  Report,  dated 
September,  1876: 

"When  Colonel  Gibbon's  column  left  the  Yellowstone,  the 
Supply  Steamer  Far  West,  upon  which  was  Company  *B'  of 
the  6th  Infantry,  was  directed  to  make  the  attempt  to  ascend  the 
Big  Horn  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Horn,  in  order  that 
supplies  might  be  near  at  hand  to  replace  the  scanty  amount 
of  subsistence  which  Colonel  Gibbon's  pack-animals  were  able 
to  carry.  Thanks  to  the  zeal  and  energy  displayed  by  Captain 
Grant  Marsh,  the  master  of  the  Steamer,  the  mouth  of  the 
Little  Horn  was  reached  by  her,  and  she  was  of  inestimable 
service  in  bringing  down  our  wounded.  They  were  sent  upon 
her  to  Fort  Lincoln." 

The  tribute  to  Captain  Marsh  was  a  high  one,  but 
surely  it  had  been  well  earned. 


515 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

THE    BATTLE   AT    POWDER   RIVER 

A  feather  of  smoke  to  the  zenith, 

The  print  of  a  hoof  in  the  sod, 

A  shot  from  the  grass  where  the  far  flankers  pass. 

Sending  one  more  poor  comrade  to  God. 

THE  telegraph  wires  had  not  yet  ceased  to  vibrate 
with  the  details  of  the  tragedy  on  the  Little  Big 
Horn,  when  General  Sheridan,  with  character- 
istic promptitude,  began  to  bend  his  energies  to  the 
task  of  retrieving  the  disaster.  He  despatched  a  message 
to  General  Terry,  bidding  him  hold  his  ground  and  be 
of  good  courage,  for  all  the  reenforcements  he  could 
possibly  need  were  being  sent  to  him  as  fast  as  railroads 
and  steamboats  could  carry  them.  To  General  Crook 
he  conveyed  similar  assurances,  instructing  him,  further, 
to  join  Terry  without  delay.  On  July  11th,  Lieut.-Col. 
Elwell  S.  Otis  with  six  companies  of  the  22nd  Infantry, 
which  had  been  relieved  from  duty  in  the  Department 
of  Dakota  only  a  few  months  before,  departed  from 
Detroit  en  route  to  the  Yellowstone.  A  few  days  later  six 
companies  of  the  5th  Infantry,  under  Colonel  Nelson  A. 
Miles,  left  the  Department  of  the  Missouri  for  the  same 
point.  To  the  assistance  of  Crook,  still  in  the  camp  on 
Goose  Creek,  where  he  had  laid  since  the  battle  of  the 

316 


The  Battle  at  Powder  River 


Rosebud,  was  sent  the  5th  Cavalry,  under  its  new  colonel, 
Wesley  Merritt,  the  brilliant  cavalry  leader  of  the  Civil 
War. 

All  of  these  fresh  troops  were  in  motion  at  once  for 
the  seat  of  war  in  the  buffalo  country.*  But  long  before 
the  first  of  them  arrived,  the  Far  West  was  back  at  the 
lonely  camp  by  the  Big  Horn's  mouth,  where  the  pall 
of  gloom  had  not  yet  lifted  and  where  the  terror  of  the 
dusky  foe,  unconquered  and  unnumbered,  still  chilled 
every  heart.  Captain  Marsh  left  Bismarck  on  the  9th 
of  July  with  a  cargo  of  supplies  and  sixty  cavalry  horses, 
ordered  up  by  General  Terry  to  partially  remount  the 
7th  Cavalry,  which  had  been  reorganized  into  a  regiment 
of  eight  troops  under  Major  Reno.  He  reached  camp 
on  the  25th,  to  meet  with  a  warm  welcome  from  his  old 
comrades,  who  were  eager  for  his  news  from  Fort  Lin- 
coln and  the  East.  He  found  the  camp  in  much  better 
order  than  when  he  had  left  it  three  weeks  before.  The 
soldiers  were  comfortable  physically,  for  the  log  huts  of 
old  Fort  Pease  had  been  utilized  as  quarters  for  many 
of  them,  while  the  Josephine,  which  he  had  passed  on 
his  trip  to  Bismarck,  had  brought  up  a  large  quantity  of 
supplies.  General  Terry,  however,  was  now  preparing 
to  break  camp  and  move  his  men  down  to  a  point  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud.  The  General  had  visited 
the  place  in  person  on  the  Josephine  and  had  determined 
to  establish  a  new  depot  there,  since  it  would  furnish 
a  convenient  base  from  which  to  march  south  for  the 
♦  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  1876-77  and  "The  Army  of  the  U.  S." 

317 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


junction  with  Crook  when  the  time  should  be  ripe.*  He 
had  ordered  the  abandonment  of  the  Powder  River 
depot  and  instructed  Major  Moore  to  bring  his  troops 
and  suppUes  to  the  Rosebud. 

On  the  afternoon  that  the  Far  West  reached  Fort 
Pease,  an  incident  occurred  remarkable  enough  to  arouse 
the  enthusiasm  of  even  Terry's  men,  grown  accustomed 
to  deeds  of  valor.  The  General  had  come  on  board  the 
boat  and  was  discussing  the  situation  and  future  plans 
with  a  number  of  officers,  including  Captain  Marsh, 
when  three  men  were  discovered  approaching  across 
the  wide  prairie  bottom  to  the  southward.  The  sight  of 
them  caused  a  flurry  of  excitement,  for  as  they  drew  near 
it  became  evident  that  they  were  white  men,  whose 
appearance  from  the  regions  abandoned  to  the  Sioux 
seemed  almost  incredible.  When  they  reached  the  boat, 
travel-stained  and  weary,  they  proved  to  be  three  soldiers 
of  General  Gibbon's  7th  Infantry,  bearing  despatches 
from  General  Crook.  Their  comrades  received  them 
with  wild  enthusiasm,  for  no  one  had  expected,  when 
they  had  set  out  for  Crook's  camp  a  few  days  before, 
to  ever  again  see  them  alive.  General  Terry  the  next 
day  published  a  special  order  to  the  command  praising 
the  courage  of  these  men,  and  his  language  very  fittingly 

*  The  record  of  events  transpiring  during  the  absence  of  the  Far  West 
is  largely  based  upon  the  "Diary  of  Matthew  Carroll,  Master  in  Charge 
of  Transportation  for  General  John  Gibbon's  Column,"  contained  in  the 
Contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Montana,  Vol.  II.  Mr.  Car- 
roll's diary  has  also  been  referred  to  frequently  for  confirming  dates  in 
the  account  of  the  operations  succeeding  the  battle  of  the  Little  Big 
Horn.— J.  M.  H. 


318 


The  Battle  at  Powder  River 


details  the  nature  of  their  exploit  and  the  admiration  with 
which  he  and  all  his  followers  regarded  it: 

"The  Department  Commander  has  recently  had  urgent  oc- 
casion to  communicate  from  this  camp  with  Brigadier-Cieneral 
Crook,  commanding  a  force  on  the  headwaters  of  Powder  Itiver. 
The  duty  of  carrying  despatches  between  these  points,  through  a 
coimtry  occupied  by  a  large  force  of  hostile  Sioux,  was  one  of  the 
most  perilous  and  arduous  nature.  A  scout,  inspired  by  the 
promise  of  a  large  reward,  made  the  attempt,  but  soon  aban- 
doned it  as  hopeless.  As  a  last  resort,  a  call  was  made  upon  the 
troops  of  this  command  for  volunteers,  in  response  to  which  not 
less  than  twelve  enlisted  men  promptly  offered  their  services. 
From  among  them  the  following  named  soldiers  were  selected : 
Privates  James  Bell,  Benjamin  H.  Stuart,  and  William  Evans, 
of  Company  E,  7th  Infantry.  On  the  9th  day  of  July  they  set 
out  for  General  Crook's  camp,  which  they  reached  on  the  12th, 
delivered  the  despatches  and  returned,  arriving  in  camp  on  the 
25th.  In  making  this  public  acknowledgment  of  the  important 
service  voluntarily  rendered  by  these  soldiers  at  the  imminent 
risk  of  their  lives,  the  Department  Commander  desires  to  express 
his  deep  regret  that  at  present  it  is  not  in  his  power  to  bestow  the 
substantial  reward  which  has  been  so  well  earned,  but  he  is 
confident  that  an  achievement  undertaken  in  so  soldier-like  a 
spirit  and  carried  so  gallantly  to  a  successful  issue,  will  not 
be  permitted  to  pass  unrewarded.  The  exploit  is  one  calculated 
to  establish  in  the  public  mind  a  higher  and  more  just  estimate 
of  the  character  of  the  United  States  soldier.  The  Department 
Commander,  on  his  own  behalf,  and  on  behalf  of  the  officers  of 
this  command,  desires  thus  publicly  to  thank  Privates  James 
Bell,  Benjamin  H.  Stuart,  and  William  Evans,  Company  E, 
7th  Infantry,  for  a  deed  which  reflects  so  much  credit  on  the 
service."  * 

After  they  had  delivered  their  despatches  from  General 
Crook,  Captain  Marsh  took  the  tired  and  hungry  mes- 

*  "The  Army  of  the  United  States,"  sketch  of  the  7th  Regiment  of 

Infantry. 

319 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


sengers  into  the  cabin  and  caused  to  be  set  before  them 
as  appetizing  and  bountiful  a  supper  as  the  steward 
of  the  Far  West  could  provide.  The  gallant  fellows, 
each  of  whom  was  afterward  granted  a  ISIedal  of  Honor 
by  Congress,  had  brought  important  information  to 
General  Terry,  for  which  he  had  been  anxiously  waiting. 
General  Crook  forwarded  by  them  the  first  accurate 
news  of  his  position  on  Goose  Creek  which  Terry  had 
yet  received.  He  also  reported  the  position  of  the  main 
body  of  the  hostiles  near  the  base  of  the  Big  Horn  Moun- 
tains, whither  they  had  retreated  after  their  victory 
over  Custer.  He  further  stated  that  he  was  striking 
his  camp  and  preparing  to  move  down  Rosebud  River 
for  a  junction  with  Terry. 

The  latter,  on  receipt  of  the  news,  hastened  the  trans- 
fer of  his  own  force  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud.  On 
the  morning  of  the  27th  he  evacuated  the  camp  at  Fort 
Pease  and,  after  seeing  the  column  set  in  motion  under 
General  Gibbon,  himself  came  on  board  the  Far  West 
with  his  staff  and  the  boat  turned  her  head  downstream 
toward  the  new  rendezvous.  The  road  along  the  river 
bottom  was  heavy  from  recent  rains,  but  as  the  troops 
swung  into  route  step  much  of  their  old-time  enthusiasm 
came  back  to  them,  for,  as  always,  the  prospect  of  active 
service  roused  their  drooping  spirits  and  restored  their 
confidence. 

At  the  time  of  the  organization  of  Terry's  column  at 
Fort  Lincoln  in  the  spring,  some  of  the  higher  oflBcers  of 
the  Commissary  Department  had  been  of  the  opinion 

320 


The  Battle  at  Powder  River 


that  the  expedition  was  lar^e  enough  to  warrant  the 
appointment  of  at  least  a  colonel  or  major  from  among 
their  number  to  act  as  chief  commissary  of  subsistence. 
They  endeavored  to  have  such  an  appointment  made,  but 
General  Terry,  who  usually  knew  quite  well  what  he 
wanted  and  never  hesitated  to  state  it,  designated  for  the 
position  Lieut.  R.  E.  Thompson  of  the  6th  Infantry, 
a  junior  officer  in  whose  integrity  and  ability  he  had  im- 
plicit confidence.  The  gentlemen  of  the  Commissary 
Department  did  not  relish  this  proceeding,  but  they  were 
powerless  to  prevent  it.  After  the  battle  of  the  Little 
Big  Horn,  however,  when  heavy  reenforcements  began 
pouring  into  the  Indian  country,  the  position  of  chief 
commissary  became  one  of  such  importance  that  the 
officers  of  the  department  could  no  longer  bear  with 
equanimity  the  idea  of  a  lieutenant  of  infantry  usurping 
their  prerogatives.  So  early  in  July  a  major  from  among 
them  betook  himself  to  Fort  Lincoln  and,  boarding  one 
of  the  upward-bound  steamers,  made  his  way  to  General 
Terry's  camp  to  claim  the  position.  Upon  his  arrival  he 
sought  out  the  General  at  the  latter's  headquarters  on 
the  Far  West,  and  in  a  somewhat  pompous  manner  made 
known  his  mission,  Terry  received  him  courteously 
and  heard  him  with  patience,  but  Captain  Marsh,  who 
was  standing  near,  listening  in  silent  amusement  to  the 
interview,'  felt  sure  that  the  major  would  meet  with  a 
surprise  before  long.  Nor  was  he  disappointed.  When 
the  new  arrival  had  finished  speaking,  Terry  looked  up 
and  in  his  quiet,  decisive  manner,  said : 

321 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


"Major,  I  am  sorry  you  have  taken  such  a  long  trip 
for  nothing.  Lieutenant  Thompson  has  been  fiUing 
the  position  of  commissary  of  subsistence  for  this  expe- 
dition to  my  entire  satisfaction.  I  am  sure  he  will  con- 
tinue to  do  so  and  I  could  not  think  of  removing  him 
at  this  time.  I  thank  you  for  your  offer,  but  Lieutenant 
Thompson  must  remain.     Good-day,  sir." 

There  was  nothing  further  to  be  said  and  the  crest- 
fallen major  returned  to  St.  Paul  by  the  next  boat,  having 
received  a  brief  but  conclusive  demonstration  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  commander  of  the  Department  of 
Dakota  conducted  the  affairs  of  his  administration. 

On  July  30th,  after  three  days  of  hard  marching, 
Gibbon's  troops  went  into  camp  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  Rosebud,  finding  when  they  reached  there  that  Major 
Moore  and  his  men  had  already  arrived.  The  latter 
had  brought  with  them  all  the  supplies  from  the  aban- 
doned Powder  River  depot  excepting  a  quantity  of  sacked 
oats  which  they  had  been  nnable  to  carry  owing  to  in- 
sufficient transportation.  Though  the  main  body  of  the 
Indians  was  known  to  be  many  miles  distant  to  the  south- 
west, numerous  small  parties  of  warriors  were  scouring 
the  country  in  every  direction,  seeking  opportunities  to 
run  off  stock  or  to  murder  any  white  men  who  might 
unwittingly  cross  their  paths.  It  was  feared  that  some 
of  the  marauding  bands  would  visit  the  mouth  of  the 
Powder  and  destroy  the  stored  forage,  and  as  soon  after 
his  arrival  at  the  Rosebud  as  possible,  General  Terry 
ordered  Major  Moore  to  take  such  a  force  as  he  deemed 

322 


The  Battle  at  Powder  River 


necessary  on  board  the  Far  West  and  proceed  to  the 
Powder  to  recover  the  oats  and  drive  away  any  Indians 
who  might  be  prowling  in  the  vicinity. 

One  cause  and  another  delayed  the  start,  but  on  the 
afternoon  of  August  1st  the  boat  got  under  way  for  her 
sixty-five-mile  run.  Before  she  left  the  troops  on  board 
were  able  to  join  their  cheers  to  those  of  their  comrades 
on  shore  as  they  welcomed  the  steamer  Carroll,  bring- 
ing in  Col.  Elwell  S.  Otis  and  his  six  companies  of  the 
22nd  Infantry,  the  first  of  the  promised  reenforcements 
to  arrive  from  the  East.  The  Carroll  brought  informa- 
tion that  when  she  had  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Powder 
two  days  before,  she  had  been  vigorously  attacked  from 
the  hills  by  a  considerable  body  of  Indians.  Troops 
had  been  landed  who  had  driven  the  enemy  from  his 
positions  and  several  soldiers  had  been  wounded  in  the 
encounter.  From  such  news  it  was  evident  that  the 
Far  West  might  expect  trouble  when  she  reached  her 
destination.  But  to  the  brave  men  she  carried,  the  pros- 
pect of  a  brush  with  Custer's  slayers  was  more  than 
welcome,  and  once  she  was  under  way  she  could  not 
steam  fast  enough  to  suit  them.  On  the  downw^ard 
voyage  she  passed  the  steamer  E.  H.  Durfee,  bringing 
up  Colonel  Nelson  A.  Miles  and  six  companies  of  the 
5th  Infantry. 

Besides  Captain  Marsh  and  his  crew  and  Sergeant 
Caddie  with  his  sixteen  dismounted  troopers,  who  were 
still  on  the  boat,  the  Far  West  carried  Companies  D, 
Captain    Murdock;     and    I,    Lieutenant    Walker,    both 

323 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


of  the  6th  Infantry;  Company  C,  Captain  McArthur, 
17th  Infantry;  one  GatHng  and  one  twelve-pound  Napo- 
leon gun,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Woodruff,  7th 
Infantry,  and  three  civilian  scouts,  Messrs.  Brockmeyer, 
Morgan  and  Smith.*  Major  Moore,  the  officer  in  com- 
mand, bore  an  enviable  reputation  for  bravery,  for  in 
at  least  one  engagement  of  the  Civil  War  his  courage 
had  received  such  conspicuous  demonstration  as  to 
excite  universal  admiration,  even  in  that  epoch  of  daily 
battles.  One  summer  day  in  1863  Moore,  who  was 
then  colonel  of  the  5th  Regiment  of  Michigan  Volunteers, 
was  at  Tebb's  Ferry,  Kentucky,  with  five  companies 
of  his  command,  guarding  the  bridge  across  Green  River. 
His  men,  only  200  in  number,  were  occupying  the  small 
intrenchment  at  the  bridge-head,  when  at  dawn  their 
position  was  suddenly  surrounded  by  two  regiments  of 
Confederate  cavalry  under  General  John  Morgan,  then 
moving  north  on  his  famous  raid  into  Ohio  and  Indiana. 
Morgan  sent  in  a  peremptory  demand  for  the  surrender 
of  the  garrison,  and,  indeed,  it  seemed  that  it  would  be 
madness  for  such  a  handful  to  resist.  But  it  was  the 
morning  of  the  Nation's  birthday  and  Moore  instantly 
sent  back  the  spirited  reply,  "The  Fourth  of  July  is  not 
a  proper  day  for  me  to  entertain  such  a  proposition." 
Morgan,  much  incensed,  thereupon  made  a  desperate 
assault  all  along  the  line.  He  was  repulsed,  with  a 
loss  of  fifty  killed  and  250  wounded,  including  some  of 
his  best  officers,  and  was  compelled  to  seek  a  crossing 
*  OflBcial  report  of  Maj.  Orlando  H.  Moore. 

324 


THE  CROW  SCOUT,  CURLEY 

Sole  survivor  of  Custer's  column  ;it  the  l)atfl('  of  the  Little  Big  Horn, 


The  Battle  at  Powder  River 


of  Green  River  elsewhere,  leaving  the  gallant  Michigan- 
ders  in  undisputed  possession  of  the  ground  they  had 
so  well  defended. 

It  did  not  seem  likely  that  a  man  of  such  metal  would 
hesitate  when  it  came  to  trying  issues  with  the  Sioux. 
The  Far  West  drew  abreast  the  wide  mouth  of  the  Powder 
in  the  early  morning  of  the  2nd  of  August.  The  sky 
was  cloudless  and  the  first  rays  of  the  rising  sun  brought 
with  them  a  heat  presaging  one  of  the  warmest  days  of 
the  summer.  Not  an  Indian  was  in  sight  as  the  steamer, 
with  engines  backed,  floated  slowly  past  the  mouth. 
But  over  the  rugged  bad-lands  to  the  east  and  west  and 
up  the  shallow  valley  of  the  tributary,  numerous  signal 
fires  were  sending  their  columns  of  smoke  wavering 
toward  the  zenith,  betokening  as  certainly  as  rifle  shots 
the  presence  of  watchful  enemies  among  the  protecting 
ravines.  Under  instructions  from  Major  Moore,  Cap- 
tain Marsh  steamed  on  around  the  bend  into  the  fretful 
current  of  Wolf  Ilapids,  but  still  the  keen  eyes  of  neither 
pilot  nor  scouts  could  detect  Indians  anywhere  over  the 
wide  landscape.  So  the  boat  was  turned  about  and 
headed  back  to  the  landing  where  the  oats  had  been 
stored,  some  distance  below  the  mouth  of  the  Powder. 

To  the  surprise  of  everyone  the  forage  was  still  there, 
though  the  sacks  had  all  been  removed  and  the  grain, 
amounting  to  about  seventy-five  tons,  scattered  in  a 
loose  pile  on  the  ground.  It  had  not  been  expected  that 
the  Indians  would  remove  it,  for  an  Indian  pony  would 
no  more  eat  oats  than  he  would  gravel,  but  it  seemed 

325 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


strange  that  they  had  not  prevented  its  recovery  by  burn- 
ing it.  Nevertheless,  there  it  was,  and  the  work  of  taking 
it  on  board  began  at  once.  At  some  httle  distance  from 
the  river  a  circular  ridge  surrounded  the  landing,  form- 
ing a  strong  defensive  position,  and  upon  arrival  Major 
Moore  ordered  the  troops  to  occupy  it.  They  did  so 
none  too  soon.  Scarcely  were  they  in  position  when  a 
mass  of  Indians  poured  over  the  crest  of  the  river  bluffs 
who,  lashing  their  ponies  to  a  furious  gallop,  swept  down 
on  the  ridge.  Such  a  reckless  approach  was  just  what 
the  soldiers  wanted.  Rushing  out  all  of  his  troops, 
excepting  ten  men  who  were  left  to  guard  the  steamer. 
Major  Moore  ordered  them  to  lie  down  and  conceal 
themselves,  hoping  to  draw  the  hostiles  within  range. 
But  unfortunately  the  crafty  savages  discovered  the  ruse 
in  time  to  save  themselves  and,  abating  their  speed, 
halted  just  beyond  range  of  the  infantry  Springfields. 

Major  Moore  now  decided  to  treat  them  to  a  little 
surprise  by  bringing  Lieutenant  Woodruff's  Napoleon 
gun  into  action.  The  piece  was  hauled  up  on  the  bank 
and  while  all  hands  on  board  suspended  work  to  watch 
the  result,  it  opened  fire  with  spherical  case  percussion 
shell  upon  a  party  of  warriors  far  off  to  the  right,  toward 
Powder  River.  As  the  roar  of  the  discharge  reverberated 
among  the  hills  and  the  singing  projectile  circled  down 
and  burst  in  front  of  them,  the  Indians  leaped  to  their 
ponies'  backs  and  fled  in  wild  terror,  never  stopping 
until  they  had  put  the  bluffs  between  themselves  and 
the  steamer.     Firing  rapidly,  Woodruff  ranged  his  piece 

326 


The  Battle  at  Powder  River 


toward  the  left  with  each  successive  shot,  until  the  shells 
had  searched  every  ravine  in  the  bend  between  Powder 
River  and  Wolf  Rapids  and  sent  the  skulking  occupants 
scurrying  out  of  range,  followed  by  the  laughter  and 
cheers  of  soldiers  and  steamboat  men. 

The  Indians  apparently  having  now  been  all  driven 
out,  the  work  of  carr}ing  the  oats  aboard  was  resumed 
and  kept  up  for  several  hours.  But  the  air  grew  more 
and  more  sultry  as  the  morning  passed  and  by  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  when  most  of  the  forage  w'as  on  board, 
the  men  were  thoroughly  exhausted.  All  who  could  do 
so  stopped  work  and  sought  shady  places  to  rest  until 
the  air  should  grow  cooler,  and  an  almost  unbroken  silence 
settled  over  the  boat.  The  Indians  had  all  disappeared 
from  the  ridges  shimmering  in  the  distance,  the  troops 
on  the  skirmish  line  were  still,  and  the  only  sounds  that 
broke  the  hush  were  the  slow,  half-smothered  puffs  of 
the  exhaust-pipe  and  the  occasional  clatter  of  a  grass- 
hopper out  on  the  sun-baked  prairie.  But  in  the  midst 
of  this  period  of  rest  there  came  to  the  scouts  Brockmeyer 
and  Morgan,  and  to  Pilot  Dave  Campbell,  the  idea 
that  the  whereabouts  of  the  Indians  should  be  learned. 
Securing  their  horses  before  anyone  else  realized  what 
they  were  about,  they  mounted  to  ride  down  the  river. 
Captain  Marsh  then  saw  them  and  asked  what  they 
meant  to  do.  Upon  being  informed  he  remonstrated 
strongly,  saying  that  such  an  attempt  would  be  per- 
fectly foolhardy,  since  the  Indians  were  undoubtedly 
concealed  only  a  short  distance  away  on  all  sides.     While 

327 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


he  was  talking,  Major  Moore  came  up  and  added  his  pro- 
tests to  those  of  the  captain.  But  the  naen  were  reckless 
fellows  and  not  being  bound  in  such  a  case  to  take  orders 
from  any  one,  they  made  light  of  the  danger  and  rode  away, 
disappearing  over  the  low  ridge  toward  Wolf  Rapids. 

Again  silence  settled  upon  the  boat  while  Captain 
Marsh  and  the  others  who  knew  of  the  scouts'  departure 
anxiously  waited  for  what  they  feared  would  be  the  cer- 
tain result.  In  a  few  moments,  several  rifle  shots  rang 
out  in  rapid  succession  down  the  river.  With  throb- 
bing pulses  the  steamboat  men  leaped  to  their  feet  and 
seized  their  weapons.  There  was  a  brief  pause  and 
then  from  the  ridge  where  the  skirmish  line  lay  a  soldier 
sprang  out  and  ran  toward  the  boat,  shouting  that  the 
scouts  were  attacked.  As  he  came  on,  over  a  swelling 
hillock  in  the  distance  the  three  men  appeared,  lying  low 
on  their  horses'  necks  and  galloping  furiously,  while  close 
behind  them  followed  a  yelping  pack  of  twenty-five  or 
more  Indians.  Instantly  Captain  Marsh,  Doctor  Porter, 
and  several  others,  including  Night  Engineer  George 
Foulk,  half-dressed  just  as  he  had  jumped  from  bed, 
rushed  out  on  the  bank  and  down  the  river.  They  were 
the  only  hope  of  rescue  for  the  scouts,  for  Major  Moore, 
quite  properly,  would  not  order  his  troops  forward  and 
thus  expose  the  boat  to  possible  attack  from  the  other 
direction.  Even  at  this  moment  another  large  body 
of  Indians  made  its  appearance  further  down  the  river, 
upon  which  Woodruff  opened  with  shelU  quickly  dis- 
persing: it. 

328 


The  Battle  at  Powder  River 


As  they  crossed  the  ridge  nearest  to  the  boat,  Captain 
Marsh  and  his  companions  saw  the  horse  of  the  rear- 
most of  the  three  fugitives  stumble  and  go  down,  pinning 
his  rider  to  the  ground.     The  Indians,   who  had   dis- 
covered the  rescuers  approaching,  were  already  halting, 
but  one  of  them,  bolder  than  the  rest,  galloped  on  to  th' 
fallen  man,  who  later  proved  to  be  Brockmeyer,  plr- 
the  muzzle  of  his  rifle  almost  against  the  latter's  bi 
and    fired.     Then    he   turned    and    dashed    away.     L 
Morgan    and    Campbell    had    also    halted    now.     They 
began  to  shoot  at  the  escaping  savage  and  a  bullet  from 
Morgan's  rifle  knocked  him  from  his  pony,  stone  dead. 
A  moment  later  the  men  from  the  boat  reached  the  scene. 
Brockmeyer   was   gnawing    the    earth    and    writhing    in 
agony  as  Doctor  Porter  knelt  over  him  and  tried  to  stanch 
the  blood  from  the  terrible  gap  in  his  breast.     Under 
the  direction  of  the  surgeon,  the  injured  man  was  borne 
back  to  the  steamer,  but  his  wound  was  mortal  and  he 
passed  away  in  a  few  hours. 

Just  before  he  died,  Brockmeyer  sent  for  Captain 
Marsh  and  asked  the  latter  to  sell  his  rifle,  revolver, 
field-glasses,  saddle,  bridle  and  horse,  all  his  earthly 
possessions,  for  what  they  would  bring,  and  send  the 
money  to  his  sister  in  Marion  County,  West  Virginia. 
She  was  a  poor  woman  and  the  captain  desired  to  realize 
for  her  every  dollar  possible  from  the  dead  scout's  pos- 
sessions. That  evening  he  suggested  to  the  army  officers 
that  a  game  of  "freeze-out"  poker  should  be  played 
for  the  articles.     The  idea  was  received  with  enthusiasm, 

329 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


for  poker  in  those  days  numbered  among  its  devotees 
practically  every  one  on  the  frontier,  and  to  this  game, 
moreover,  would  be  added  an  object  which  appealed  to 
the  hearts  of  all  these  generous  soldiers.  So  through  the 
summer  night,  almost  until  break  of  day,  they  sat  in  the 
cabin  of  the  Far  West,  cards  in  hand,  fighting  mosquitoes 
and  fortifying  themselves  with  such  liquid  refreshments 
as  the  mess  chests  of  the  officers  could  provide.  When 
they  finally  arose  from  the  table.  Captain  Marsh  had  a 
roll  of  several  hundred  dollars  ready  to  transmit  by  the 
next  mail,  together  with  the  sad  news  of  her  brother's 
fate,  to  the  sister  of  poor  Brockmeyer,  far  away  among 
the  foothills  of  the  AUeghenies.  The  pathetic  little  inci- 
dent, revealing  the  noblest  philanthropy  masquerading 
behind  the  mere  love  of  gaming,  was  a  curiously  illumi- 
nating sidelight  on  the  virtues  and  vices  that  so  often 
commingled  along  the  old  military  frontier. 

The  body  of  the  unfortunate  Brockmeyer  was  buried 
by  his  comrades  next  morning  in  a  spot  overlooking  the 
broad  valley  and  the  restless  waters  of  the  Yellowstone. 
To  this  day  the  place  is  known  as  "  Scout's  Grave."  After 
the  skirmish  in  which  he  had  met  his  death,  the  Indians 
did  not  again  appear.  The  oats  having  all  been  loaded 
the  day  before,  immediately  after  the  brief  ceremony  over 
the  scout's  remains,  the  Far  West  cast  off  her  lines  and 
started  for  the  Rosebud. 


330 


CHAPTER  XL 

TERBY   TAKES   THE    FIELD 

The  East  flushes  red  vifh  the  mcrning. 

The  daum-wind  springs  fresh  o'er  the  plain. 

And  tfie  reveille's  note  jrom  tfie  bugle's  clear  throat 

Calls  us  up  to  our  labors  again. 

ON  her  way  up  the  Yellowstone  the  Far  West  passed 
the  Carroll  going  down  to  Buford,  and  the  next 
morning  arrived  at  camp  to  find  everything 
there  in  commotion.  During  her  absence  the  Josephine 
had  brought  down  the  last  supplies  left  at  Fort  Pease, 
and  General  Terry  was  now  using  her  for  ferrying  his 
troops  to  the  south  bank,  preparatory  to  marching  up 
the  Rosebud  in  search  of  Crook.  Captain  Marsh's 
vessel  was  at  once  pressed  into  service,  also,  and  by  the 
7th  of  August  the  entire  force  was  assembled  on  the 
south  shore.  The  column  had  been  reorganized  and  now 
consisted  of  a  brigade  of  infantry  commanded  by  General 
Gibbon  and  made  up  of  four  battalions,  one  each 
from  the  5th,  6th,  7th  and  22nd  Infantry;  a  cavalry  force 
embracing  the  entire  7th  Cavalry  and  four  troops  of 
the  2nd  Cavalry,  all  under  Major  Brisbin,  and  a  battery 
of  one  twelve-pound  and  two  ten-pound  rifled  field-guns 

331 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


commanded  by  Lieutenant  Low.*  Accompanied  by  a 
wagon  train  carrying  an  ample  supply  of  rations  and 
forage,  this  formidable  force  started  up  the  Rosebud 
valley  next  morning,  leaving  the  steamers  and  the  depot 
guarded  by  one  company  of  the  17th  Infantry  under 
Captain  Sanger,  a  few  dismounted  cavalrymen  and  the 
Gatling  gun  battery. 

To  all  appearances.  Captain  Marsh  and  the  other 
boat  men  were  about  to  experience  a  long  period  of  in- 
activity while  the  troops  were  away  scouring  the  country 
for  the  evasive  Sioux.  But  the  crew  of  the  Far  West 
found  plenty  to  do.  Game  was,  of  course,  abundant, 
all  over  the  country.  As  in  earlier  years  the  islands  were 
full  of  elk,  the  prairies  were  dotted  with  antelope  and 
herds  of  buffalo,  while  over  the  low  sandbars  wild  geese 
and  ducks  were  flocking  in  myriads.  Surrounded  by 
such  plentiful  opportunities  for  sport,  the  ordinary  prac- 
tices of  hunting  palled  upon  the  men  of  the  Far  West, 
and  at  length  they  struck  upon  a  method  for  the  whole- 
sale destruction  of  the  wild  creatures  of  the  plains  and 
river  the  like  of  which  had  never  been  used  before  and 
probably  never  will  be  again. 

At  the  time  when  General  Terry  retired  from  the  field 
of  the  Little  Big  Horn,  one  of  the  Gatling  guns  with  his 
command  had  become  disabled  and  had  been  placed  on 
board  the  Far  West  for  safekeeping.  It  had  been  stowed 
away  in  a  corner  of  the  deck,  together  with  a  plentiful 
supply  of  ammunition,  and  still  remained  there  undis- 
*  OflBcial  report  of  General  Terry. 

332 


Terry  Takes  the  Field 


turbed.  One  day  when  time  was  hanging  heavily  on  his 
hands,  John  Dark,  an  ingenious  member  of  Sergeant 
Caddie's  contingent  of  "horse  marines,"  hauled  the  gun 
out  and  finding  that  its  running-gear  only  had  been 
injured  and  not  its  firing  mechanism,  he  made  such  repairs 
as  were  necessary  to  render  it  available  for  use  on  the 
boat.  Then  procuring  a  bucketful  of  cartridges,  he 
and  a  comrade  trained  the  gun  down  river  at  a  flock 
of  unsuspecting  geese  seated  quietly  on  a  sandbar,  far 
beyond  rifle  range,  and  began  grinding.  Before  the  un- 
fortunate waterfowl  could  comprehend  that  a  great  and 
mysterious  disaster  had  come  upon  them,  their  ranks 
were  decimated,  and  as  they  rose  to  fly  in  squawking  ter- 
ror they  left  the  sandbar  plowed,  like  a  battlefield,  by 
bullets  and  strewn  with  the  bodies  of  the  fallen. 

Encouraged  by  their  success,  the  amateur  artillerymen 
extended  their  target  practice  as  opportunity  offered, 
slaying  buffalo,  antelope  and  elk  at  discretion,  for  the 
Gatling  gun  could  bring  down  any  of  these  animals  at 
such  ranges  that  they  had  no  chance  to  escape.  Since 
frequently  during  the  summer  and  fall  all  the  experienced 
scouts  and  hunters  were  away  with  the  campaigning 
troops,  the  spoils  of  the  Gatling  gun  were  very  welcome 
to  the  men  on  the  boat.  It  kept  them  better  supplied 
with  fresh  meat  than  they  could  have  been  by  even  the 
redoubtable  rifle  of  "Yellowstone"  Kelly,  or  that  of  the 
lamented  "  Lonesome  "  Charlie  Reynolds. 

The  march  of  General  Terry's  column  through  the 
rough  country  along  the  Rosebud  was  much  impeded  by 

333 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  long  wagon  train,  but  after  traveling  for  three  days 
it  had  covered  a  distance  of  about  twenty-eight  miles. 
Then,  one  morning,  the  Crow  scouts  in  front  came  gal- 
loping madly  back  to  the  advance  guard,  chanting  their 
war  songs  and  shouting  that  the  Sioux  were  coming. 
Their  report  was  verified  by  the  appearance  of  a  few  horse- 
men far  in  the  distance  ahead,  and  Terry  closed  up  his 
column  and  deployed  skirmishers  for  action.  But  in 
a  few  moments  one  of  the  strangers  rode  boldly  down 
from  the  hills,  waving  his  hat.  His  action  made  it  evi- 
dent that  he  was  a  white  man,  and  Captain  Weir,  of 
the  7th  Cavalry,  went  forward  to  meet  him.  Upon 
coming  up,  the  captain  found  him  to  be  a  scout  whose 
name  was  already  famous  all  over  the  West.  He  was 
conducted  inside  the  lines,  where  Captain  Weir  intro- 
duced him  to  the  troops  by  shouting: 

"Boys,  here's  'Buffalo  Bill.'  Some  of  you  old  soldiers 
know  him.     Give  him  a  cheer!" 

The  injunction  was  heartily  obeyed,  not  only  for  the 
sake  of  the  renowned  Indian  fighter  himself,  but  because 
when  discovered,  he  was  scouting  in  advance  of  Crook, 
and  brought  news  of  the  latter's  near  approach.  A  short 
time  later  the  two  forces,  so  long  held  asunder  by  the 
strong  arm  of  the  common  enemy,  united  and  went  into 
camp  together,  while  their  commanders  began  the  dis- 
cussion of  plans  for  the  future. 

The  united  commands  numbered  quite  3,600  men,* 
enough  to  destroy  all  the  Indians  in  the  country  if  they 
*  Diary  of  Matthew  Carroll. 

334 


Terry  Takes  the  Field 


could  only  be  brought  to  battle.  General  Crook  brought 
word  that  the  hostiles  had  left  the  base  of  the  Big  Horn 
Mountains,  and,  passing  around  his  right,  had  descended 
the  Rosebud  for  a  distance  and  then  turned  eastward 
toward  the  Tongue.  They  had  left  the  Rosebud  at  the 
point  where  the  columns  met  and  here  their  trail  was 
broad,  distinct  and  trampled  flat  by  the  passage  of  a 
myriad  of  horses  and  travois.  It  was  quite  fresh  and 
had  plainly  been  made  but  a  few  days  before.  Terry 
and  Crook  at  once  decided  to  follow  it  with  all  possible 
speed.  But  one  difficulty  presented  itself.  The  Indians 
as  a  body  would  certainly  not  keep  on  eastward  indefi- 
nitely, for  that  course  would  lead  them  to  the  Missouri 
River  and  the  forts,  where  they  knew  that  they  would  soon 
be  surrounded.  It  was  much  more  likely,  therefore,  that 
they  would  turn  toward  the  Yellowstone,  cross  it,  and 
keeping  on  northward  would  ford  the  Missouri  and 
effect  their  escape  into  the  British  Possessions,  where  they 
would  be  safe  from  pursuit. 

To  frustrate  any  such  design.  General  Terry  determined 
on  sending  a  part  of  his  forces  back  to  seize  and  guard 
the  various  fords  of  the  Yellowstone.  For  this  important 
work  he  selected  the  battalion  of  General  Miles.  The  lat- 
ter was  instructed  to  return  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rosebud, 
taking  the  artillery  with  him,  and  there  board  the  Far 
West  and  run  down  river,  establishing  detachments  wher- 
ever he  deemed  necessary  along  the  north  bank.  After 
accomplishing  these  dispositions  he  was  instructed  to 
employ  the  boat  in  patrolling  the  stream.     The  supply 

335 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


train  could  not  be  taken  with  the  main  column  across 
the  precipitous  ridge  between  the  Rosebud  and  the 
Tongue,  so  fifteen  days'  rations  were  transferred  from 
it  to  pack-mules  and  the  wagons  made  ready  to  go  back 
to  the  depot,  under  escort  of  the  returning  troops. 


336 


By  permission  Rice,  Photo^jraplier,  Washinjjiijn,  D.  C. 


LIEUT.-GEN.   NELSON   A.    MILES 


CHAPTER  XLI 

PATROL    DUTY   WITH    MILES    AND    "BUFFALO    BILL " 

Brit  the  man  thiit  knew  his  biismess  as  the  king-bird  knows  the  hawk. 
That  started  with  the  rifle  and  finislted  with  the  talk. 
Thai  wauldnH  stop  for  bluffin"  wJien  he  once  got  started  right. 
Was  him  I'm  tellin'  you  about — you  bet  he  came  to  fight! 

GENERAL  MILES  started  for  the  mouth  of  the 
Rosebud  on  the  same  night  that  he  received 
his  orders.  With  characteristic  vigor  he  made 
a  forced  march,  coming  into  the  depot  at  daybreak, 
his  men  tired  and  footsore.  Their  appearance  was  a 
surprise  to  the  garrison,  but  almost  before  they  had 
time  to  reahze  it,  Captain  Marsh  had  steam  up  on  the 
Far  West,  Miles'  troops  had  embarked,  and  the  boat 
was  skimming  downstream  between  the  islands  toward 
Powder  River.  It  was  an  exciting  run  from  the  first 
turn  of  the  wheel,  for  the  power  of  steam  was  now  pitted 
against  the  nimble  feet  of  Indian  ponies.  At  every  bend 
they  rounded,  the  pilot  and  the  army  officers  gathered  in 
the  little  house  on  the  roof  peered  anxiously  ahead  through 
the  dismal  rain  that  was  falling  all  that  day,  half  expect- 
ing to  see  the  banks  lined  with  dusky  warriors  and  the 
paraphernalia  of  savage  camps.  The  river  was  quite 
low  and  none  too  easy  to  navigate,  but  Marsh  and  Camp- 
bell knew  every  foot  of  it  and  no  accidents  occurred. 

337 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


General  Miles  was  frequently  in  the  pilot-house  during 
this  voyage  and  the  ones  succeeding  it,  constantly  observ- 
ing the  country  and  seeking  information,  however  trivial, 
which  might  prove  of  future  military  value.  Thus  it 
was  that  a  friendship  sprang  up  between  him  and  Captain 
Marsh  which  lasted  through  the  years  of  Indian  warfare 
and  continued  unbroken  long  after  the  colonel  of  infantry 
had  risen  to  be  the  commanding  general  of  the  United 
States  Army.  When  the  name  of  Nelson  A.  Miles  is 
mentioned,  the  captain  can  scarcely  find  words  strong 
enough  in  which  to  express  his  admiration  and  aflFection 
for  the  man,  who,  through  all  his  campaigns  in  the  North- 
west, never  found  any  work  too  hard  to  be  performed, 
any  danger  too  great  to  be  faced,  when  duty  demanded 
it;  who  gladly  shared  with  his  men  every  privation  and 
peril  to  which  they  were  exposed,  and  whose  watchful 
care  for  their  welfare  knew  no  relaxation.  The  brilliant 
career  of  General  Miles  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  and 
on  the  southern  plains  had  appealed  to  the  captain's 
imagination  long  before  they  met.  The  expectations 
thus  aroused  in  his  mind  were  more  than  fulfilled  during 
their  association  by  the  General's  courage  and  tireless 
energy  as  a  soldier  and  by  his  noble  character  and  unfail- 
ing kindliness  as  a  man.  That  the  captain's  admiration 
for  the  distinguished  soldier  was  reciprocated,  is  evident 
from  the  following  tribute  recently  paid  to  him  by  General 
Miles  :* 

"  I  found  him  a  resolute,  active,  brave,  intelligent  com- 
*  Contained  in  a  letter  written  by  General  Miles  to  the  author. 

338 


Patrol  Duty  with  Miles  and  '"'Buffalo  BilV 

mander,  a  skillful  navigator,  and  a  strong  man  mentally 
and  physically;  in  fact,  he  would  be  a  marked  man  in 
any  community,  as  he  was  a  natural  leader  among  men. 
His  services  were  exceedingly  valuable  at  that  time, 
during  the  serious  hostilities  of  those  large  tribes  of  Sioux 
Indians  which  occupied  that  extensive  section  of  country. 
In  clearing  the  way  for  civilization  and  occupation  by  the 
white  race,  Captain  Marsh  contributed  his  full  share  and 
is  entitled  to  much  credit  for  the  splendid  work  in  which 
he  was  engaged." 

The  first  point  below  the  Rosebud  where  the  Yellow- 
stone could  be  readily  forded  in  the  stage  of  water  then 
prevailing,  was  at  the  mouth  of  Tongue  River.  The 
Far  West  arrived  at  this  point  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
she  started.  After  putting  off  a  company  to  encamp 
and  throw  up  intrenchments,  she  sped  on  toward  the 
Powder.  No  Indians  had  yet  been  encountered  when, 
on  the  13th  of  August,  she  came  in  opposite  the  scene 
of  the  engagement  of  eleven  days  earlier  and  debarked 
Captain  Burnett's  company.  As  she  touched  the  bank, 
the  men  who  were  responsible  for  the  success  of  her 
trip  felt  a  great  load  lifted  from  their  minds,  for  it  was 
evident  from  the  appearance  of  the  shores  that  the  enemy 
had  not  yet  crossed  there  and  effected  his  escape  north- 
ward- But,  stopping  only  long  enough  for  the  troops 
to  land,  she  turned  about  and  went  back  to  the  Tongue 
that  night. 

Next  morning  as  she  lay  there,  the  soldiers  who  were 
vigilantly  watching  the  bluffs  across  the  river  for  Indians. 

339 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


saw,  instead,  two  white  scouts  approaching,  who  came 
down  to  the  bank  and  signaled  to  the  boat.  They  were 
from  General  Terry,  and  reported  that  his  column  had 
marched  across  the  ridge  from  the  Rosebud  and  was 
now  in  the  Tongue  valley.  The  troops  had  failed  to 
overtake  the  Indians,  having  suffered  much  discomfort 
and  delay  by  reason  of  the  heavy  rains.  The  scouts  had 
been  sent  to  ascertain  the  whereabouts  of  the  boat  and 
they  returned  to  their  command  that  night. 

After  they  had  gone,  the  Far  West  began  patrol  duty, 
going  down  to  the  Powder  again  and  thence  on  through 
Wolf  Rapids.  A  few  Indians  were  now  to  be  seen  and 
it  was  feared  that  they  might  be  crossing  further  down 
the  Yellowstone.  Steam  was  crowded  on,  and  after 
a  run  of  a  few  hours  the  mouth  of  Glendive  Creek  came 
into  view.  Still  there  were  no  signs  that  heavy  bodies  of 
the  enemy  had  recently  been  along  the  river  bank,  though 
signal  smokes  and  Indians  themselves  were  occasionally 
discernible  among  the  hills  to  the  south.  General  Miles 
therefore  set  ashore  a  company,  together  with  one  of  the 
field-pieces,  under  Captain  Rice,  to  intrench  and  guard 
the  crossing.  The  steamer  then  put  about  and  returned 
to  the  Powder. 

On  the  17th,  Terry  and  Crook  came  down  to  that 
point,  having  hesitated  to  follow  the  Indian  trail  further 
among  the  bad-lands  without  fresh  supplies.  The  trail 
still  tended  eastward  and  General  Terry  had  despatched 
orders  to  Captain  Sanger  at  the  Rosebud  to  evacuate  the 
depot  there  and  bring  the  reserve  supplies  down  to  the 

340 


Patrol  Duty  with  Miles  and  ''Bufjalo  BilV 

Powder,  where  they  would  be  more  readily  accessible  to 
the  main  column.  The  E.  H.  Durfee,  the  only  boat  be- 
side the  Far  West  now  left  in  the  upper  river,  was  busily 
engaged  for  the  next  week  in  bringing  down  the  supplies, 
while  the  wagon  train,  which  had  been  parked  at  the 
Rosebud,  marched  overland  to  the  new  position. 

When  the  troops  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Powder, 
General  Crook's  chief  scout,  William  F.  Cody,  much 
better  known  as  "Buffalo  Bill,"  was  still  with  them, 
and  here  Captain  Marsh  received  his  first  introduction 
to  the  noted  frontiersman.  Colonel  Cody  was  ever  a 
picturesque  personality  and  never  more  so  than  on  this 
campaign,  during  which  he  performed  some  of  his  most 
daring  exploits.  He  was  a  young  man  then,  barely 
thirty  years  of  age,  strong,  graceful,  and  of  splendid 
physique.  Dressed  in  an  elaborate,  fringed  buckskin 
hunting  suit,  with  revolver  and  bowie-knife  at  belt,  high 
riding-boots  and  broad  sombrero,  he  was  a  figure  to 
attract  attention  anpvhere,  while  his  forceful  manner, 
his  readiness  of  resource  in  any  emergency  and  his  utter 
disregard  for  danger,  would  have  marked  him  as  a  phe- 
nomenal man,  without  any  embellishments  of  attire. 
Just  a  month  to  the  day  before  his  arrival  at  the  Powder, 
while  marching  southward  with  Crook  to  meet  the  5th 
Cavalry  under  Merritt,  "Buffalo  Bill"  had  met  with  a 
thrilling  experience.  A  large  body  of  Indians  had  been 
encountered  and  he,  riding  with  his  usual  daring  in  front 
of  the  command,  had  suddenly  come  face  to  face  with 
Yellow  Hand,  a  noted  Cheyenne  chief.     They  engaged 

341 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


m  a  spectacular  duel,  which  was  ended  by  the  scout 
slaying  Yellow  Hand  with  his  knife.  "Buffalo  Bill" 
then  scalped  him  and  swinging  the  scalp,  with  the  war- 
bonnet  still  attached  to  it,  in  the  faces  of  the  oncoming 
Indians,  shouted: 

"The  first  scalp  for  Custer!" 

He  and  Captain  Marsh  had  often  heard  of  each  other 
before,  for  the  name  of  each  was  familiar  all  along  the 
frontier,  and  their  first  greeting  was  like  that  of  old  ac- 
quaintances. Colonel  Cody,  at  the  moment  of  their 
meeting,  chanced  to  be  in  the  company  of  Gen.  E.  A. 
Carr,  second  in  command  of  the  5th  Cavalry,  an  officer  of 
Crook's  command.  Carr  himself,  a  distinguished  veteran 
of  the  Rebellion,  for  some  reason  was  not  deeply  impressed 
with  the  progress  which  was  being  made  in  the  campaign 
by  the  various  ofl5cers  above  him,  and  when  Cody  pre- 
sented him  to  Captain  Marsh,  he  stepped  forward  and 
grasping  the  latter 's  hand,  exclaimed,  earnestly: 

"  Captain,  I've  heard  of  you  and  the  way  you  do  things 
and  I  told  Bill  I  wanted  to  meet  you.  I'm  mighty  glad, 
sir,  to  know  one  live  man  up  in  this  country.  They 
seem  to  be  extremely  rare!" 

Though  it  was  pleasant  to  lie  before  the  camp,  sur- 
rounded by  so  much  life  and  activity,  Captain  Marsh 
was  not  permitted  to  enjoy  such  a  situation  for  long. 
He  soon  received  orders  to  make  the  Far  West  ready  for 
another  down-river  scout,  in  which  General  Miles  and 
"Buffalo  Bill"  were  to  participate.  Before  they  started. 
General    Terry    came  on   board   and   took  the  captain 

342 


Patrol  Duty  with  Miles  and  ''Buffalo  Bill" 

aside  to  speak  about  a  matter  which  had  been  brought  to 
his  attention.  Though  most  of  the  crew  and  all  of  the 
officers  of  the  Far  West  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  exciting 
service  in  which  they  had  been  and  still  were  engaged, 
some  few  of  the  deck  hands,  more  timid  than  their  com- 
rades, objected  to  the  work,  complaining  that  they  had 
not  been  employed  by  the  steamboat  company  to  place 
their  lives  in  danger  like  soldiers,  and  that  they  were 
drawing  wages  for  working  on  the  boat,  not  for  fighting 
Indians.  Their  complaints  had  reached  the  ears  of  Gen- 
eral Terry  and  he  now  came  to  Captain  Marsh  and,  in 
his  usual  brief  manner,  referred  to  them.  He  said  that 
the  men  were  undoubtedly  within  their  rights  in  protest- 
ing. They  could  not  be  expected  to  undergo  danger 
if  they  objected  and,  though  he  would  always  instruct 
the  troops  to  shield  them  as  much  as  possible,  at  the 
same  time  he  had  no  authority  to  order  them  to  go  any- 
where simply  because  the  army  went. 

Captain  Marsh  was  very  indignant  when  he  heard 
of  the  position  taken  by  a  few  malcontents  among  his 
men.  It  had  never  occurred  to  him  that  any  of  them 
could  be  dissatisfied  with  the  work  they  were  doing  on 
account  of  its  perils. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you.  General,"  he  said,  when  Terry 
had  finished  speaking,  "  you  have  always  given  me  a  big 
salary  and  the  preference  over  all  other  steamboat  men 
in  government  work.  So  have  the  other  army  officers 
for  the  last  ten  years.  I  consider  it  a  compliment  to  be 
called  on  for  this  kind  of  service  and  I  prefer  that  you 

343 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


consider  my  boat  a  soldier  and  send  it  just  where  you 
want  it  until  you  get  through  with  it.  Anybody  among 
my  crew  who  don't  like  it,  can  quit  and  go  ashore." 

The  General  answered  not  a  word,  merely  bowing 
his  head  in  assent  as  he  turned  and  walked  away.  But 
that  he  understood  and  appreciated  the  action  of  the 
captain  was  evident  from  the  favor  he  continued  to 
show  the  latter  so  long  as  he  continued  in  command  of 
the  Department  of  Dakota. 

The  incidents  of  the  scout  down  the  river  now  begun 
by  the  Far  West  are  detailed  with  so  much  spirit  by 
Colonel  Cody  in  his  volume  of  personal  recollections, 
entitled,  "The  Adventures  of  BuflFalo  Bill,"*  that  the 
account  cannot  be  improved  upon.  It  is  therefore  in- 
serted here  in  its  entirety: 

"One  evening  while  we  were  in  camp  on  the  Yellowstone  at 
the  mouth  of  Powder  River,"  says  Colonel  Cody,  "I  was  in- 
formed that  the  commanding  officer  had  selected  Louis  Richard, 
a  half-breed,  and  myself  to  accompany  General  Miles  on  a 
scouting  expedition  on  the  steamer  Far  West,  down  the  Yellow- 
stone as  far  as  Glendive  Creek.  We  were  to  ride  on  the  pilot- 
house and  keep  a  sharp  lookout  on  both  sides  of  the  river  for 
Indian  trails  that  might  have  crossed  the  stream.  The  idea  of 
scouting  on  a  steamboat  was  indeed  a  novel  one  to  me,  and  I 
anticipated  a  pleasant  trip. 

"At  daylight  next  morning  we  reported  on  board  the  steamer 
to  General  Miles,  who  had  with  him  four  or  five  companies  of 
his  regiment.  We  were  somewhat  surprised  when  he  asked  us 
where  our  horses  were,  as  we  had  not  supposed  that  horses 
would  be  needed  if  the  scouting  was  to  be  done  on  the  steamer. 
He  said  we  might  need  them  before  we  got  back,  and  thereupon 

*  Harper  &  Brothers,  Publishers,  1904. 

344 


Patrol  Duty  with  Miles  and  '' Buffalo  BilV 


we  had  the  animals  brought  on  board.  In  a  few  minutes  we 
were  booming  down  the  river  at  the  rate  of  about  twenty  miles 
an  hour. 

"The  steamer  Far  West  was  commanded  by  Captain  Grant 
Marsh,  whom  I  found  to  be  an  interesting  character.  I  had 
often  heard  of  him,  for  he  was,  and  is  yet,  one  of  the  best-known 
river  captains  in  the  country.  He  it  was  who,  with  his  steamer, 
the  Far  West,  transported  the  wounded  men  from  the  battle  of 
the  Little  Big  Horn  to  Fort  Abraham  Lincoln  on  the  Missouri 
River,  and  on  that  trip  he  made  the  fastest  steamboat  time  on 
record.  He  was  a  skillful  and  experienced  pUot,  handling  his 
boat  with  remarkable  dexterity. 

"While  Richard  and  myself  were  at  our  stations  on  the  pilot- 
house, the  steamer,  with  a  full  head  of  steam,  went  flying  past 
islands,  around  bends,  over  sandbars,  at  a  rate  that  was  exhil- 
arating. Presently  I  thought  I  could  see  horses  grazing  in  a  dis- 
tant bend  of  the  river,  and  I  reported  the  fact  to  General  Miles, 
who  asked  Captain  Marsh  if  he  could  land  the  boat  near  a  large 
tree,  which  he  pointed  out  to  him. 

"'Yes,  sir;  I  can  land  her  there,  and  make  her  cUmb  the  tree 
if  necessary,'  said  he. 

"On  reaching  the  spot  designated.  General  Miles  ordered  two 
companies  ashore,  while  Richard  and  myself  were  instructed 
to  take  our  horses  off  the  boat  and  push  out  as  rapidly  as  possible 
to  see  if  there  were  Indians  in  the  vicinity.  While  we  were  get- 
ting ashore,  Captain  Marsh  remarked  that  if  there  was  only  a 
good  heaNy  dew  on  the  grass  he  would  shoot  the  steamer  ashore, 
and  take  us  on  the  scout  without  the  trouble  of  leavang  the  boat. 

"It  was  a  false  alarm,  however,  as  the  objects  we  had  seen 
proved  to  be  Indian  graves.  Quite  a  large  number  of  braves, 
who  had  probably  been  killed  in  some  battle,  were  laid  on  scaf- 
folds, according  to  the  Indian  custom,  and  some  of  their  clothing 
had  been  torn  from  the  bodies  by  the  wolves  and  was  wa\'ing  in 
the  air. 

"On  arriving  at  Glendive  Creek  we  found  that  Colonel  Rice 
and  his  company  of  the  5th  Infantry,  who  had  been  sent  there  by 
General  Miles,  had  built  quite  a  good  little  fort  with  their  trowel- 

345 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


bayonets,  a  weapon  which  Colonel  Rice  was  the  inventor  of, 
and  which,  by  the  way,  is  a  very  useful  implement  of  war,  as  it 
can  be  used  for  a  shovel  in  throwing  up  intrenchments,  and  can  be 
profitably  utilized  in  several  other  ways.  On  the  day  previous 
to  our  arrival  Colonel  Rice  had  a  fight  with  a  party  of  Indians, 
and  had  killed  two  or  three  of  them  at  long  range  with  his  Rod- 
man cannon. 

"The  Far  West  was  to  remain  at  Glendive  over  night,  and 
General  Miles  wished  to  send  despatches  back  to  General  Terry 
at  once.  At  his  request  I  took  the  despatches,  and  rode  seventy- 
five  miles  that  night,  through  the  bad  lands  of  the  Yellowstone, 
and  reached  General  Terry's  camp  next  morning,  after  having 
nearly  broken  my  neck  a  dozen  times  or  more." 

Captain  Marsh  was  alarmed  when  he  heard  that 
"Buffalo  Bill"  was  about  to  undertake  this  ride  back 
to  the  camp  at  the  Powder.  Going  to  him  as  he  was 
making  his  horse  ready  on  the  main  deck,  the  captain 
exclaimed : 

"Bill,  don't    try  it.     You'll  never  get  through  alive." 

The  scout  merely  laughed  and  mounted  his  horse, 
and  as  he  rode  away  in  the  gathering  darkness  the  captain 
watched  him  out  of  sight  regretfully,  fully  convinced  that 
he  would  never  again  be  seen  of  men.  He  was  pleas- 
antly surprised,  therefore,  when,  late  in  the  following 
night,  he  was  awakened  by  some  one  coming  to  his  bunk 
and  grasping  him  by  the  shoulder.  Opening  his  eyes 
he  looked  into  the  smiling  face  of  Cody,  who  remarked: 

"Captain,  have  the  steward  get  me  something  to  eat, 
can  you?    I'm  hungry." 

The  daring  fellow  had  not  only  gone  safely  through 
to  Terry,  but  had  returned  by  the  same  route.     After 

346 


Patrol  Duty  with  Miles  and  ''Buffalo  Bill'' 

that  the  captain  ceased  to  worry  about  the  doings  of  a 
man  whose  life  seemed  to  be  under  a  charm. 

The  Far  West  now  returned  to  the  Powder,  where 
General  Miles  was  to  leave  the  boat  for  a  time.  Before 
going  he  presented  to  the  captain  the  following  letter 
of  thanks  for  services  rendered: 

"Headquarters  Yellowstone  Line,  near 
Mouth  of  Powder  River,  M.  T. 

August  19,  1876. 
Captain  Grant  Marsh, 

Commanding   Steam-Boat    Far   West: 

Before  leaving  your  boat,  I  wish  to  express  my  acknowledg- 
ment of  your  zealous  assistance  in  the  movements  that  have 
been  made  by  my  command  in  the  past  seven  (7)  days,  during 
a  period  of  active  operations  against  the  hostile  Sioux  Indians. 
I  wish  to  say  that  the  disposition  of  troops,  and  the  trans- 
portation of  stores,  that  have  been  made,  could  not  have  been 
made  had  it  not  been  for  your  energy  and  skill  in  the  manage- 
ment of  your  Steamer  and  command.     You  have  done  all  in  your 
power,  and  more  than  was  expected,  for  the  interests  of  the 
Government  and  to  promote  the  enterprise  in  which  we  are  en- 
gaged, and  are  sincerely  deserving  of  my  thanks. 
Very  respectfully, 
(Signed)  Nelson  A.  Miles, 

Bvt.  Major  Gen'l.,  U.  S.  A." 

On  her  way  back  to  the  camp,  the  Far  West  passed 
the  steamers  Yellowstone  and  Carroll,  loaded  with  sup- 
plies, below  Wolf  Rapids,  which  they  were  unable  to 
ascend  owing  to  the  falling  river.  The  Yellowstone  had 
a  cargo  of  sutler's  goods  and  the  Carroll  sixty  tons  of 
freight,  and  both  of  them  lay  too  low  in  the  water  to  carry 
over  the  rapids.     Several  days  elapsed  before  they  could 

347 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


be  lightened  so  as  to  go  through.  At  the  depot  it  was 
found  that  the  troops  were  preparing  to  take  up  the 
Indian  trail  again.  Many  of  the  cavalry  horses  on  their 
long,  hard  marches  through  the  hills,  had  become  so 
weak  from  lack  of  grain  that  they  had  been  held  in  camp 
longer  than  would  otherwise  have  been  necessary,  in 
order  that  they  might  recuperate.  Crook  returned  to 
the  trail  August  24th  and  Terry  followed  the  next  day. 
It  seemed  rather  a  hopeless  proceeding  to  resume  the 
pursuit  after  such  a  long  delay,  but  it  was  a  question  of 
either  doing  that  or  doing  nothing. 

Shortly  after  starting.  General  Terry  received  from 
General  Miles,  who  was  again  patrolling  the  river  on  the 
Far  West,  such  decisive  reports  of  the  increasing  numbers 
of  Indians  appearing  near  Glendive,  that  he  abandoned 
his  eastward  march  and  returned  to  the  Yellowstone  at 
the  mouth  of  O'Fallon  Creek.  Crook  kept  on,  moving 
toward  the  Black  Hills,  and  on  September  9th  his  advance, 
commanded  by  Captain  Mills,  overtook  and  captured  a 
large  village  under  American  Horse,  near  Slim  Buttes, 
Dakota.  The  main  body  came  up  and  a  few  hours  later, 
while  all  were  engaged  in  packing  up  the  captured  pro- 
visions which  were  sorely  needed  by  the  troops,  another 
and  much  larger  force  of  Indians  under  Crazy  Horse 
attacked  them,  but  were  repulsed.  Though  in  reality 
the  majority  of  the  savages  who  had  been  engaged  in 
the  Custer  battle  had  gone  eastward,  they  had  not  done  so 
in  a  body.  Immediately  after  crossing  the  Little  Missouri 
they  had  broken  up  into  bands  and  innumerable  small 

348 


Patrol  Duty  with  Miles  and  ''Buffalo  Bill*' 

parties.  The  latter  straggled  back  to  the  agencies  gradu- 
ally and  quietly,  hoping  thus  to  avoid  the  notice  of  the 
military.  True  to  their  racial  instincts,  they  had  been 
satisfied  with  striking  one  decisive  blow  and  could  not 
long  be  held  together  by  their  chiefs  after  doing  it.  Crook 
swept  aside  all  the  organized  opposition  there  was  left 
in  the  country  he  was  traversing  and  then  returned  to 
that  portion  of  his  own  department  whence  he  had  marched 
northward  in  the  spring.  After  he  had  ceased  active 
operations  the  only  considerable  bodies  of  hostiles  left 
south  of  the  Yellowstone  were  those  in  the  camps  of  Crazy 
Horse  and  Dull  Knife,  about  600  lodges,  all  told.  They 
swung  off  westward  after  Crook  had  passed  them  and  re- 
turned to  the  neighborhood  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains, 
intending  to  spend  the  winter  there.  But  they  did  not 
camp  together,  and  in  November  a  column  organized  by 
Crook  for  a  winter  campaign  and  commanded  by  Colonel 
Mackenzie,  4th  Cavalry,  located  and  attacked  the  Chey- 
enne village  of  Dull  Knife,  in  Willow  Creek  Canon  of 
the  Big  Horn  Mountains.  The  village  was  destroyed 
and  its  occupants  driven  out  into  the  bitter  weather,  where 
many  of  them  froze  to  death,  while  the  remainder  were 
hopelessly  dispersed. 

General  Terry,  after  parting  from  Crook,  began  vigor- 
ous endeavors  to  run  to  earth  such  scattered  fragments  of 
the  Indian  army  as  had  turned  toward  the  Canadian 
line.  A  well-defined  trail  existed  between  the  fords  of 
the  lower  Yellowstone  and  the  Missouri  near  Fort  Peck, 
Montana,  and  it  was  feared  the  enemy  might  be  making 

349 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


use  of  it  On  his  flight.  Terry  crossed  the  Yellowstone 
on  August  27th  on  the  steamers  Carroll  and  Yellowstone, 
and  struck  off  northwestward  through  an  unknown  and 
very  barren  country  toward  the  Big  Dry  Fork  of  the 
Missouri  and  Fort  Peck. 

Before  leaving  the  river  on  his  difficult  march,  Terry 
received  advices  from  Lieutenant- General  Sheridan  that 
it  had  been  determined  to  occupy  the  Yellowstone  Valley 
with  a  military  force  during  the  coming  winter.  For  this 
purpose  Terry  was  instructed,  as  soon  as  field  opera- 
tions should  close,  to  send  the  battalions  of  General 
Miles  and  Colonel  Otis  to  the  mouth  of  Tongue  River 
to  establish  a  temporary  cantonment,  it  being  already  too 
late  in  the  season  to  build  a  permanent  fort  before  winter. 

Three  steamers,  loaded  with  building  materials  and 
supplies  for  the  new  post,  reached  Wolf  Rapids  almost 
at  the  same  time  that  the  Lieutenant-General's  despatch 
came  in.  The  river  was  now  very  low  and  General  Terry 
went  to  see  them.  The  masters  of  two  of  the  steamers 
refused  absolutely  to  go  any  further,  declaring  that  they 
would  be  wrecked  in  the  rapids.  The  cargoes  of  their 
boats  were  therefore  unloaded,  hauled  around  the  obstruc- 
tion, and  placed  upon  the  Far  West,  which  conveyed 
them  to  their  destination.  But  plucky  Mart  Coulson, 
of  the  Josephine,  was  undismayed  by  the  rapids.  His 
boat  had  been  vigorously  attacked  by  the  Indians  forty 
miles  below  Glendive  Creek,  and  after  such  an  experience, 
he  was  not  to  be  thwarted  by  so  small  a  matter  as  low 
water.     Boldly  steaming  ahead  with  his  vessel,  on  which 

350 


Patrol  Duty  with  Miles  and  "Buffalo  Bill'* 

he  was  bringing  up  two  additional  companies  of  the  5th 
Infantry  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Whistler,  he  went 
through  safely  and  proceeded  to  the  Tongue. 

The  mouth  of  this  stream  had  been  indicated  by  Gen. 
James  W.  Forsyth  in  1875  as  a  favorable  location  for  a 
post.  It  had  been  the  desire  of  the  military  authorities 
for  more  than  a  decade  to  establish  a  permanent  garrison 
somewhere  in  that  country  to  hold  the  Indians  in  sub- 
jection. But  the  accomplishment  of  the  project  had  been 
postponed  from  year  to  year,  partly  because  of  the  iso- 
lated position  which  such  a  garrison  would  occupy,  and 
the  almost  insurmountable  difficulties  that  would  be 
encountered  in  supplying  it.  But  the  chief  cause  for  the 
delay  had  been  the  refusal  of  Congress  to  appropriate  the 
necessary  funds  for  the  work.  When  Terry  moved  out  in 
the  spring  of  1876,  it  was  hoped  that  he  would  be  able 
to  leave  a  part  of  his  troops  in  the  country  for  the  winter, 
but  the  hope  had  seemingly  been  crushed  by  the  result 
of  the  battle  of  the  Little  Big  Horn.  That  unfortunate 
event,  however,  had  really  rendered  the  founding  of  such 
a  post  imperative.  Late  in  July,  Congress  had  appro- 
priated $200,000  for  the  enterprise  and  it  was  now  about 
to  become  an  accomplished  fact. 

For  pearly  a  week  Terry's  troops  scouted  over  the  deso- 
late uplands  between  the  Yellowstone  and  the  Missouri, 
making  long  marches,  suffering  much  from  lack  of  water, 
and  finding  no  Indians,  for  the  few  who  had  actually 
crossed  the  river,  principally  followers  of  Sitting  Bull,  had 
broken  up  into  small  parties  after  reaching  the  north 

351 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


side.  Having  covered  a  wide  circle  of  country,  Terry 
returned  to  the  river  at  Glendive  Creek,  on  August  31st. 
He  found  in  front  of  Captain  Rice's  camp  the  steamer 
Silver  Lake,  low-water  bound  with  a  cargo  of  supplies  for 
the  new  cantonment,  while  three  other  boats,  similarly 
loaded,  were  at  a  standstill  eighteen  miles  below.  One 
of  them,  the  Benton,  had  burst  a  steam-chest  and  was 
temporarily  helpless  to  go  either  forward  or  back.  Colonel 
Moore's  detachment,  with  a  large  wagon  train,  had  come 
down  from  O 'Fallon  Creek,  where  they  had  crossed  at 
the  same  time  as  the  troops,  and  they  were  able  to  handle 
some  of  the  stranded  supplies.  But  all  of  the  boats,  now 
so  sorely  needed  above  Wolf  Rapids,  had  come  out  of 
the  upper  river  and  gone  to  Fort  Buford  or  beyond. 


352 


CHAPTER  XLII 

THE    FRUITS   OF   STRUGGLE 

Beyond  the  far  Missouri's  banks  they  fled 

And  paused  to  look,  and  in  tlie  evening  light 

Beheld  the  sentries  of  the  enemy. 

Black  specks  upon  the  distant,  dazzling  butles. 

They  sought  the  Rockies'  deep  and  tortuous  glades; 

The  morning  sun  across  the  canons,  still 

From  sword  and  carbine  flasJied  his  warning  sign. 

DURING  all  the  weeks  of  late  summer,  while  other 
steamboat  men  were  experiencing  such  perplexi- 
ties in  navigating  the  Yellowstone,  Captain 
Marsh  was  taking  the  Far  West  wherever  she  was  needed. 
Up  or  down  river,  over  shoals,  through  rapids  or  chutes — 
it  made  no  difference  where.  He  knew  every  foot  of  the 
river  like  the  palm  of  his  hand  and  could  apparently  run 
the  Far  West  as  long  as  there  was  water  enough  to  keep 
the  bottom  damp.  Sometimes  General  Miles  was  on 
the  boat  and  sometimes  on  shore,  though  all  of  his  troops 
not  in  the  observation  camps  had  gone  with  Terry's  col- 
umn when  it  moved  out  north  of  the  river.  But  he  kept 
the  Far  West  constantly  on  patrol  duty,  alert  for  signs  of 
the  enemy.  She  often  conveyed  from  one  shore  to  the 
other  the  scouts,  white  and  red,  who  were  engaged  in  simi- 
lar work  back  on  the  prairies  and  in  the  bad-lands  and 

353 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


who  were  likely  to  be  encountered  anywhere  along  the 
banks. 

But  at  length  General  Miles  temporarily  relieved  the 
boat  from  this  service  in  order  that  she  might  run  down  to 
Buford  after  a  cargo  of  supplies  for  the  troops  in  the  field. 
Before  she  left,  Captain  Marsh  had  the  pleasure  of  greet- 
ing an  old  friend  whose  sudden  appearance  there  was  a 
welcome  surprise  to  every  one.  This  was  no  less  a  person 
than  "  Yellowstone  "  Kelly.  Through  the  summer  he  had 
been  hunting  and  trapping  in  the  Big  Hole  Basin  in  north- 
ern Montana,  and  had  not  known  of  the  stirring  events 
which  were  taking  place  along  his  favorite  river.  But 
when,  by  chance,  he  heard  of  them  and  that  Captain 
Marsh  was  on  the  Yellowstone,  he  hastened  down  to  join 
the  troops.  General  Miles  at  once  employed  him  as  a 
scout  and  he  remained  until  the  close  of  the  year's  work, 
doing  valuable  service.*  The  Far  West  left  for  Fort  Bu- 
ford just  before  Terry's  column  came  into  Glendive, 
and  the  General  was  disappointed  to  find  her  gone,  while 

*  Major  Kelly,  in  a  letter  to  the  author  referred  to  in  a  previous  chap- 
ter, has  something  to  say  regarding  the  services  of  Captain  Marsh  in  the 
campaign  of  1876,  which  indicates  that  the  frontier  scouts  held  much  the 
same  opinion  of  him  as  did  the  soldiers. 

"It  took  a  daring  man,"  Major  Kelly  writes,  "to  navigate  the  Yellow- 
stone in  the  '70s,  and  the  fact  that  Captain  Grant  Marsh  was  the  man 
selected  shows  the  favor  in  which  he  stood  with  army  men.  I  think 
that  he  is  the  greatest  steamboat  captain  hving,  and  his  '  Go  ahead '  when 
we  came  to  a  bad  place  rings  in  my  ears  yet,  after  all  these  years.  He 
had  great  regard  for  all  genuine  hunters  and  mountain  men  and  they 
admired  him. 

"I  do  not  think  that  any  other  man  would  have  dared  to  push  his 
boat  up  the  Big  Horn  River  when  the  army  was  in  dire  need  of  such 
service,  in  the  time  when  Custer  and  his  men  were  surrounded  and 
killed.  I  was  in  the  country  that  year,  1876,  and  know  the  peril  of  it, 
and  the  terror  that  struck  many  good  men." 

354 


The  Fruits  of  Struggle 


so  much  transshipping  was  waiting  to  be  done  above 
the  rapids.  "Buffalo  Bill,"  who  had  experienced  enough 
adventures  to  satisfy  him  for  the  time,  had  ridden  into 
camp  ahead  of  the  column,  and  he  went  down  with  Cap- 
tain Marsh,  on  his  way  to  join  his  family  in  the  East. 

When  the  steamer  reached  Fort  Buford  the  supplies 
were  found  to  be  ready  and  they  were  promptly  taken  on 
board.  The  fort  at  this  time  was  in  charge  of  Gen.  W. 
B.  Hazen,  commanding  the  6th  Infantry.  He  was  a 
fine  soldier  and  a  distinguished  one,  but  so  strict  a  dis- 
ciplinarian that  the  men  of  his  command  sometimes 
thought  his  rule  too  harsh.  Just  as  the  Far  West  was 
about  to  cast  off  her  lines,  General  Hazen  and  his  wife 
came  on  board,  accompanied  by  a  young  officer  whom 
they  introduced  to  Captain  Marsh  as  Lieutenant  John  C. 
Gresham,  7th  Cavalry.  He  was  going  up  on  the  boat  to 
join  his  regiment.  It  was  military  custom  that  when- 
ever an  army  officer  came  on  board  a  boat  on  which  sol- 
diers were  serving,  he  should  assume  command  of  them. 
On  the  Far  West,  Sergeant  Caddie  and  his  men  were  still 
employed,  never  having  been  ordered  back  to  the  colors. 
It  happened  that  no  officer,  excepting  Lieutenant  Gresham, 
was  to  make  the  trip,  and  as  he  was  only  some  two  months 
out  of  West  Point  and  had  never  seen  field  service,  Gen- 
eral Hazen,  on  parting  from  him,  gave  him  very  explicit 
and  detailed  instructions  regarding  his  duties  as  com- 
manding officer,  being  particularly  careful  to  impress  upon 
him  just  how  guard  duty  ought  to  be  performed. 

Sergeant  Caddie  and  his  sixteen  faithful  followers  heard 
355 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  General's  formidable  directions  with  trepidation,  for 
they  had  grown  accustomed,  when  alone  on  the  boat,  to 
performing  guard  duty  in  a  very  simple,  though  effective, 
manner.  Captain  Marsh  was  much  more  desirous  that 
the  soldiers  should  always  have  a  good  night's  rest  so  as  to 
be  able  to  help  in  cutting  and  loading  wood  during  the 
day,  than  he  was  that  they  should  mount  guard  strictly 
according  to  the  drill  regulations.  So  it  had  been  usual, 
when  the  boat  tied  up  for  the  night,  to  pull  the  landing- 
stage  on  board,  set  her  off  from  the  bank  with  a  spar, 
and  station  a  single  sentinel  on  the  hurricane  deck  to 
give  the  alarm  in  case  Indians  should  appear.  But  this 
method  did  not  suit  the  exacting  views  of  General  Hazen. 
He  instructed  Lieutenant  Gresham  to  post  a  line  of  sen- 
tinels 200  yards  out  on  the  bank  when  the  boat  landed, 
and  to  maintain  it  by  regular  reliefs  throughout  the 
night.  Having  given  the  young  officer  all  the  good  advice 
he  could  think  of,  the  General  then  departed  with  his 
wife  and  the  Far  West  got  under  way. 

Near  Forsyth's  Butte  she  stopped  for  the  night  and 
Lieutenant  Gresham  proceeded  to  put  his  orders  into 
practice,  much  to  the  disgust  of  the  men.  They  dared 
say  nothing,  but  determined  if  possible  to  frighten  their 
inexperienced  commander  into  bringing  them  back  on 
board.  The  boat  had  made  her  landing  beside  a  low 
bank,  covered  with  dense  willow  thickets,  through  which 
a  recent  freshet  had  swept  and,  subsiding,  had  left  a 
deposit  of  mud  adhering  to  the  bark  of  the  trees.  It  was  a 
disagreeable  place  in  which  to  spend  the  night,  but  the 

356 


The  Fruits  of  Struggle 


Lieutenant  conscientiously  posted  his  sentries  200  yards 
out  in  the  brush. 

They  had  not  been  on  duty  long  when  several  shots 
rang  out,  and  Trooper  John  Dark,  the  same  resourceful 
individual  who  had  repaired  the  Gatling  gun,  came  rush- 
ing breathlessly  back  to  the  boat,  crying  that  he  had  just 
killed  the  biggest  Indian  he  had  ever  seen.  He  expected 
the  Lieutenant  to  become  pale  with  terror,  but  the  Lieu- 
tenant did  not.  Instead,  he  seized  a  lantern  and  plunging 
out  into  the  black  night  through  the  willows,  bade  John 
take  him  to  the  Indian.  The  trooper  was  thoroughly 
crestfallen  at  this  turn  of  affairs,  for,  of  course,  there  was 
no  Indian,  and  after  crawling  about  among  the  willows 
for  a  while,  Gresham  gave  him  a  severe  reprimand  and 
put  him  back  on  his  post.  There  was  no  sleep  for  the 
sentinels  that  night,  but  when  morning  dawned  the  young 
officer  was  a  sorry  sight.  He  had  been  dressed  the  pre- 
vious evening  in  all  the  spotless  glory  of  his  first  new  uni- 
form of  "army  blue";  at  daylight  he  was  covered  from 
head  to  foot  with  a  crust  of  mud,  accumulated  from  con- 
tact with  the  willows  during  his  frequent  tours  of  inspec- 
tion through  the  night.  But  he  had  carried  out  his 
instructions  to  the  letter.  During  the  day,  however,  he 
consulted  with  Captain  Marsh  and  learned  from  him  how 
guard  duty  had  previously  been  performed,  and  ought  to 
be  performed  for  the  good  of  the  boat.  The  information 
was  as  a  great  light  to  him,  and  after  that  the  methods 
previously  in  force  were  resumed.  The  conscientious 
young  cavalryman  went  with  his  regiment  through  the 

357 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


remainder  of  the  campaign  and  is  to-day  an  officer  of 
high  rank  in  the  service. 

The  Far  West  passed  up  through  "Wolf  Rapids  about 
September  5th  and  resumed  her  work  of  hauHng  suppHes 
and  patrolHng  the  stream.  Field  operations  had  closed 
and  the  troops  were  breaking  up  and  moving  to  their 
several  stations.  General  Gibbon,  with  his  detachments 
of  the  7th  Infantry  and  2nd  Cavalry,  had  started  back  to 
Fort  Ellis.  Major  Reno  with  the  7th  Cavalry  had  marched 
for  Fort  Buford,  and  General  Terry,  accompanied  by  all 
of  Colonel  Moore's  troops  excepting  Captain  Baker's 
Company  B,  had  gone  down  to  the  same  point  on  one  of 
the  boats,  all  of  which  were  leaving  the  lower  Yellowstone 
as  fast  as  possible.  A  force  was  still  at  Glendive  Creek, 
guarding  and  moving  supplies,  but  General  Miles  had 
taken  his  troops  to  the  cantonment  on  the  Tongue.  At 
this  point  the  Far  West  now  made  her  headquarters,  with 
Company  B,  6th  Infantry,  again  on  board. 

General  Miles  was  often  on  the  boat,  and  one  day  he 
was  desirous  of  sending  a  despatch  down  to  Fort  Buford. 
He  had  no  scouts  excepting  "Yellowstone"  Kelly,  and 
him  he  could  not  spare.  But  in  Captain  Baker's  com- 
pany was  a  private  named  Cassidy,  who  modestly  came  to 
Captain  Marsh  and  said: 

"  If  you  will  speak  to  Captain  Baker  for  me,  I  will  take 
the  General's  despatch  to  Buford." 

The  captain  did  so,  and  the  soldier  was  taken  to  Gen- 
eral Miles  and  started  that  night  on  his  perilous  journey. 
As  was  usual  on  such  trips,  he  traveled  only  at  night  and 

358 


The  Fruits  oj  Struggle 


secreted  himself  during  the  day,  for  the  Indians  were  still 
prowling  about  everywhere  in  little  parties,  as  they  had 
been  doing  all  summer.  On  the  second  night  out,  day- 
light overtook  Cassidy  as  he  reached  the  vicinity  of  Sheri- 
dan's Buttes,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Powder.  He 
decided  that  the  top  of  the  buttes  would  be  a  safe  place  of 
concealment  for  the  day  and  made  his  way  there.  From 
his  vantage  point  he  commanded  a  wide  view  over  the 
country  and  not  long  after  he  had  settled  himself,  he  saw 
a  large  party  of  Indians  come  down  to  the  Yellowstone 
about  a  mile  below  and  cross  over  to  the  north  side. 
They  remained  in  the  vicinity  all  day,  Cassidy  watching 
them  and  not  daring  to  move  from  his  elevated  lookout. 
But  at  nightfall  he  crept  away  and,  in  obedience  to  his 
orders,  which  were  to  return  at  once  to  camp  in  case  he  saw 
Indians,  hastened  back  to  the  Tongue  and  reported. 

The  information  was  of  great  value  to  General  Miles, 
who  promoted  Cassidy  on  the  spot,  while  General  Terry 
was  warned  of  the  Indian  movement  and  sent  the  7th 
Cavalry  post-haste  up  the  Missouri  to  head  them  off. 
Cassidy  had  developed  a  strong  attachment  to  Captain 
Marsh  and  the  next  year,  when  his  term  of  enlistment 
expired,  he  went  down  to  Yankton,  where  the  captain 
lived,  and  there  took  up  his  residence,  far  from  scenes  of 
warfare. 

The  Yellowstone  was  falling  so  low  now  that  even  Cap- 
tain Marsh  hesitated  to  tempt  fate  by  remaining  longer, 
lest  his  boat  be  imprisoned  until  the  next  spring.  About 
the  middle  of  September,  therefore,  he  bade  farewell  to  his 

359 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


many  friends  of  the  army  who  were  to  remain  and,  turning 
his  back  on  the  scenes  of  that  never-to-be-forgotten  sum- 
mer, hastened  down  to  Buford  and  thence  straight  on 
south  to  Yankton,  expecting  to  rejoin  his  family  and  put 
his  steamer  into  winter  harbor.  But  he  had  scarcely 
reached  Dakota's  capital  before  he  was  called  upon  again 
for  active  service,  this  time,  however,  in  the  cause  of  peace 
instead  of  war. 

After  the  death  of  Custer,  popular  indignation  against 
the  Indians  became  so  pronounced  that  great  pressure 
was  exerted  upon  the  Government  to  compel  them  to  re- 
linquish their  title  to  the  Black  Hills,  long  coveted  by 
settlers.  The  demand  was  a  hardship  upon  the  many 
red  men  who  had  remained  quietly  at  the  agencies  through- 
out the  war  in  Montana,  but  they  were  made  to  suffer  for 
the  errors  of  their  brethren.  Such  powerful  chiefs  as 
Spotted  Tail  and  Red  Cloud,  recognized  both  by  the 
whites  and  by  their  own  people  as  leaders  of  the  first 
magnitude,  had  steadfastly  refused  to  be  drawn  into 
hostilities,  and  they,  not  the  hostiles,  were  the  ones  actu- 
ally in  possession  of  the  Black  Hills. 

But,  in  response  to  the  popular  outcry,  a  peace  com- 
mission was  appointed  to  treat  with  the  principal  chiefs 
of  the  tribes  interested  and  secure  their  consent  to  the 
cession  of  the  Black  Hills  as  well  as  the  buffalo  country 
of  Wyoming  and  Montana.  Some  money  was  to  be  paid 
for  the  territory,  of  course,  but  it  was  to  be  as  little  as  the 
Commission  could  induce  the  Indians  to  accept.  The 
Government  representatives  were,  at  the  same  time,  to 

360 


The  Fruits  of  Struggle 


arrange  with  the  tribes  for  new  and  definite  reservation 
boundaries.  The  chiefs  in  arras  against  the  Govern- 
ment were,  naturally,  not  to  be  consulted,  the  peacable 
element  among  the  tribes  alone  being  considered. 

The  Commission  included  among  its  members,  ex- 
Governor  Newton  Edmunds,  of  Dakota,  a  man  who,  on 
several  previous  occasions,  had  distinguished  himself  as 
a  successful  negotiator  with  the  Sioux;  Hon.  George  W. 
Manypenny,  of  Ohio;  Gen.  11.  H.  Sibley,  who  was  early 
compelled  to  leave  the  Commission  owing  to  illness,  and 
Right  Rev.  Henry  B.  Whipple,  Protestant  Episcopal 
Bishop  of  Minnesota.  It  proceeded  to  work  at  once  and 
late  in  September  secured  upon  its  proposed  treaty,  the 
signatures  of  Spotted  Tail,  Red  Cloud,  Man-Afraid-of- 
his-Horses,  American  Horse  (the  younger),  and  sixty-one 
other  leading  men  of  the  Ogalalla,  Northern  Cheyenne, 
and  Arapahoe  tribes.  There  was  not  one  among  them 
who  was  not  bitterly  reluctant  to  thus  sign  away  the 
choicest  portion  of  their  birthright  for  any  consideration, 
but  they  w^ere  helpless  and  could  do  nothing  but  submit 
with  as  good  grace  as  possible.* 

Proceeding  differently  from  previous  peace  commis- 
sions, this  one  did  not  call  all  the  Indians  into  one  great 
council,  but  itself  went  from  one  agency  to  another  to 
meet  them.  After  it  had  visited  the  Red  Cloud  Agency 
near  Laramie,  and  the  Spotted  Tail  Agency  on  the  upper 
White  River,  the  Commission  came  around  by  Yankton 
on  its  way  to  the  reservations  along  the  Missouri.  Here 
*  "  History  of  the  Sioux  Indians,"  by  Doane  Robinson. 

361 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Captain  Marsh  was  encountered  and  the  Government 
representatives  insisted  that  he  should  take  them  on  up 
the  river.  With  reluctance  he  again  left  home  and  put 
the  Far  West  in  motion  for  the  Yankton  Agency,  where 
the  chiefs  of  the  Lower  Yanktonais,  and  also  a  number 
of  Uncpapa  and  Blackfoot  leaders,  signed  the  treaty. 
The  Commission  then  went  on  to  Cheyenne  River,  Crow 
Creek,  and  the  Lower  Brule  Agencies,  securing  the  sig- 
natures of  Sans  Arcs,  Blackfoot,  Two  Kettle,  Minnecon- 
joux  and  Brule  chiefs,  and  finally  completed  its  labors  at 
the  Santee  Agency,  in  northern  Nebraska.  Captain  Marsh 
was  able  to  return  to  Yankton  before  the  river  closed. 

Throughout  the  trip  his  passengers  were  greatly  pleased 
with  the  treatment  accorded  them  by  the  master  of  the 
Far  West,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  he  conveyed  them 
from  point  to  point  on  their  important  mission.  As  a 
tribute,  they  adopted  and  presented  to  him  the  following 
resolutions : 

"Resolved,  that  Captain  Grant  Marsh,  commanding  the 
Steamer  Far  West,  for  the  skill  and  energy  displayed  in  nav-igat- 
ing  his  vessel  and  for  his  courteous  attention  during  the  passage 
from  Yankton,  merits  the  sincere  thanks  of  this  Commission. 

Resolved,  that  we  commend  Captain  Grant  Marsh  to  the 
traveling  public  as  a  skillful  oflScer  and  a  gentleman  ever  worthy 
of  their  esteem  and  patronage. 

(Signed)  Geo.  W.  Mantpenny,  Chairman. 
H.  C.  Beelis. 
Newton  Edmunds 
H.  B.  Whipple 
Sam'l.  D.  Hinman. 
Standing  Rock,  October  9,  1876. 

(Signed)  C.  M.  Hendley,  Secretary,  Sioux  Com'm'n." 

362 


The  Fruits  of  Struggle 


After  the  captain  left  the  theater  of  war  in  the  Yellow- 
stone country,  military  movements,  under  the  vigorous 
direction  of  General  Miles,  continued  with  little  interrup- 
tion throughout  the  winter.  The  cantonment  on  the 
Tongue,  at  first  known  as  Tongue  River  Barracks,  was 
completed  as  a  base  of  operations.  Difficulties  without 
number  were  experienced  in  bringing  up  to  the  canton- 
ment all  the  supplies  left  at  Wolf  Rapids  and  Glendive 
by  the  steamers.  The  wagons  available  were  few  and 
many  tedious  trips  had  to  be  made  to  and  fro,  attended 
with  great  labor  and  danger.  Sitting  Bull  and  Gall  had 
again  gathered  their  forces  into  some  semblance  of  order 
and,  though  they  were  few  in  number  compared  with 
the  horde  of  early  summer,  there  were  enough  of  them 
to  render  a  strong  escort  necessary  for  the  safety  of  every 
w^agon  train  moving  across  country. 

In  October,  a  detachment  of  Colonel  Otis's  troops, 
accompanying  a  train  bound  for  the  cantonment  from 
Glendive,  was  attacked  and  driven  back  to  its  startin2 
point.  Colonel  Otis  himself,  with  a  larger  escort,  then 
assumed  command  and  took  the  train  through,  though 
not  without  a  two  days'  running  fight.  General  Miles, 
sallying  forth  from  the  cantonment  to  meet  the  train, 
w^ent  on  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians.  He  overtook  and 
defeated  them,  forcing  most  of  them  to  surrender, 
though  Sitting  Bull  and  Gall,  with  about  four  hundred 
people,  escaped  and  made  their  way  northward  into 
British  America,  where  they  remained  for  several  years. 
The  surrendered  Indians  gave  hostages  for  their  return 

363 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


to  the  agencies   in   the  spring,  pledges  which  most  of 
them  redeemed. 

Returning  to  the  cantonment.  Miles  refitted  his  troops 
for  a  winter  campaign  and  took  the  field  again  in  Decem- 
ber. Early  in  January,  in  a  desperate  battle  at  Wolf 
Mountain,  on  the  upper  Tongue  River,  he  defeated 
Crazy  Horse,  capturing  so  much  of  the  latter 's  camp 
equipage  that  the  fierce  Ogalalla  became  disheartened 
and  surrendered  in  the  spring.  No  other  general  who 
had  ever  fought  against  Crazy  Horse  had  been  able  to 
subdue  this  most  redoubtable  of  all  the  Sioux  chiefs. 

General  Terry,  meanwhile,  had  been  actively  engaged  in 
another  quarter.  Early  in  October  he  sent  the  7th  Cav- 
alry, accompanied  by  some  infantry  and  artillery,  from 
Fort  Lincoln  down  to  the  Standing  Rock  and  Cheyenne 
River  agencies.  Assisted  by  the  local  garrisons  at  these 
places,  the  regiment  forcibly  disarmed  and  dismounted 
all  the  Indians  congregated  there,  among  whom  were 
many  of  those  who  had  been  on  the  warpath  during  the 
summer.  The  confiscated  weapons  and  horses  were  sold 
and  the  proceeds  applied  to  the  purchase  of  cows  and 
working  oxen  for  the  Indians.  At  Fort  Peck,  Montana, 
General  Hazen's  troops  performed  a  similar  duty,  and 
by  the  21st  of  November  General  Terry  was  able  to  report* 
that  virtually  all  the  Indians  in  his  department  had  been 
deprived  of  their  firearms  and  riding  animals,  rendered 
dependent  upon  the  Government  for  food  and  clothing, 
and  helpless  to  engage  in  further  hostilities. 

*  General  Terry's  Annual  Report,  1876-77. 

364 


The  Fruits  oj  Struggle 


Thus  the  campaign  which  at  one  time  had  seemed 
doomed  to  a  total  and  disastrous  failure,  under  the  skillful, 
tireless  and  courageous  guidance  of  the  men  directing  it, 
was  brought  to  a  successful  conclusion.  The  names  of 
Terry  and  Gibbon,  Crook  and  Miles  and  Otis,  will  ever 
be  associated  with  the  subjugation  of  the  great  Sioux 
Nation,  the  most  powerful  confederation  of  aborigines  on 
the  continent,  for,  though  the  work  was  not  quite  com- 
pleted, and  after  1876  the  warlike  spirit  of  this  proud 
people  still  manifested  itself  at  times  in  bloody  outbreaks, 
the  Sioux  never  again  undertook  war  against  the  whites 
as  an  united  nation.  But  to  the  enlisted  soldiers  and  the 
few  civilians  with  them,  who,  through  that  long,  eventful 
campaign  had  fought  and  suffered  and  worked  uncom- 
plainingly, belongs  almost  as  much  credit  as  to  the  officers 
who  led  them.  Not  the  least  deserving  were  the  captain 
and  crew  of  the  Far  West,  who  had  rendered  such  valuable 
services  with  their  steamer;  services  without  which  the 
army  would  have  been  crippled  and  the  very  success  of  the 
campaign  jeopardized. 

Years  afterward,  when  he  had  risen  several  grades  in 
his  profession,  General  Miles  is  said  to  have  stated  that 
Captain  Marsh  did  not  a  little  toward  placing  the  first 
star  on  his  shoulder.  The  captain  and  his  sturdy  vessel 
doubtless  helped  to  place  a  coveted  bar  on  many  an 
officer's  shoulder-strap  that  summer,  and  chevrons  on 
the  sleeves  of  many  a  man  in  the  ranks.  But  the  rewards 
that  he  prized  most  highly  for  his  season's  work  were 
not  the  glories  gained  for  himself  or  for  others.     They 

365 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


were  simply  the  added  confidence  and  friendship  he  had 
earned  from  the  army  he  loved  and  from  its  officers,  and 
the  satisfaction  of  having  done  his  duty  and  merited  his 
winter's  rest.  The  gratification  of  such  modest  ambitions 
of  conscience  has  always  been  his  chief  desire  and,  like 
most  men  who  hold  fast  to  simple  and  generous  ideals 
rather  than  adopt  craftiness  and  selfishness,  life  has 
brought  him  little  of  material  wealth.  But,  in  its  stead, 
it  has  given  him  a  capacity  for  enjoyment,  a  tranquillity  of 
mind,  and  a  faith  in  and  love  for,  his  fellow  men  which 
no  earthly  riches  could  ever  purchase. 

A  pathetic  fate  eventually  overtook  the  captain's  gal- 
lant steamboat.  After  1876  he  never  again  commanded 
the  Far  West,  and  some  years  later  she  drifted  into  the 
lower  river  trade,  running  between  St.  Louis  and  Roche- 
port,  Missouri.  At  last,  one  day  in  the  autumn  of  1883, 
October  20th,*  to  be  exact,  while  downward  bound  with 
a  trip  for  St.  Louis,  she  struck  a  snag  in  Mullanphy  Bend, 
seven  miles  below  St.  Charles,  and  sank,  a  total  loss. 
Though  it  can  hardly  be  said  that,  like  Kipling's  galley, 
"a  craven-hearted  pilot  crammed  her,  crashing  on  the 
shore,"  yet  her  destruction  was  doubtless  due  to  some 
error  in  navigation  on  the  part  of  her  lower  river  pilot.  It 
seems  a  pity  that  she  could  not  have  found  her  last  resting 
place  somewhere  in  the  regions  where  her  days  of  glory 
had  been  spent.  But  under  the  sands  at  the  foot  of  the 
forest-clad   Charbonnier  Bluffs  she  lies,  in  view  of  the 

*  Capt.  H.  M.  Chittenden,  U.  S.  A.,  in  Report  of  the  Missouri  River 
Commission,  1897. 

366 


The  Fruits  of  Struggle 


site  of  old  Fort  Bellefontaine,  where  long  ago  the  flags  of 
France  and  Spain  floated  over  the  infant  territory  of  Louis- 
iana. At  least  in  the  restless  waters  that  wash  her  wast- 
ing bones  are  mingled  many  drops  from  those  far-off 
torrents  of  the  Northwest,  the  Big  Horn  and  the  Yellow- 
stone, which  once,  in  the  days  of  battle,  bore  her  sturdy 
timbers  so  faithfully  through  every  danger  that  they 
carried  her  at  last,  the  Missouri  Valley's  most  famous 
steamboat,  to  an  immortal  place  in  history. 


367 


CHAPTER  XLIII 

THE    ROSEBUD    CARRIES    THE    GENERAL    OF    THE    ARMY 

Here,  in  the  New  Worlds  heart,  there  stands  to-day 
A  man,  begotten  of  no  royal  line. 
Yet  one  whose  lofty  works  accomplished,  shine 
As  beacons,  whereby  kings  might  light  their  way. 

THROUGH  the  period  of  cold  weather  while  navi- 
gation was  at  a  standstill,  the  Coulson  Packet 
Company  improved  the  time  by  building  more 
boats  to  accommodate  the  increasing  traffic.  The  military 
activity  in  the  Northwest  had  given  a  great  impetus  to 
steamboating,  for  the  profits  were  enormous  from  running 
vessels  at  $300.00  or  $350.00  per  diem,  the  prevailing 
rates  for  Government  service.  Along  the  Missouri  River, 
moreover,  thousands  of  settlers  were  annually  making 
new  homes  in  regions  as  yet  remote  from  railroads  and 
their  presence  added  constantly  to  the  local  business  of 
the  river  steamers.  After  the  army  had  established  itself 
there,  even  the  Yellowstone  Valley  began  to  attract  set- 
tlers, and  hardy  ranchmen  and  farmers  were  herding 
cattle  and  turning  the  prairies  into  cultivated  fields  even 
before  the  buffalo  had  vanished  or  the  rifle  of  the  hostile 
had  ceased  to  be  a  menace. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1877  Captain  Marsh  went  down 
to  St.  Louis  to  meet  and  take  command  of  one  of  the 

368 


The  ''Rosebud'' 


Company's  new  boats  which  had  been  built  at  Pittsburg 
during  the  preceding  winter.  She  was  the  Rosebud,  a 
vessel  very  similar  to  the  Far  West  in  hull  construction, 
capacity  and  draught.  Upon  receiving  the  boat,  the  cap- 
tain started  at  once  for  Bismarck  with  her,  doing  a  profit- 
able local  business  from  St.  I^ouis  on  up  the  Missouri. 
About  forty  miles  below  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  the  Rosebud 
passed  the  wreck  of  the  unfortunate  steamer,  J.  Donald 
Cameron,  which  had  struck  a  snag  and  sunk  on  May  18th. 
This  boat,  together  with  the  W.  T.  Sherman,  had  been 
built  by  the  Government  for  service  between  Bismarck 
and  the  posts  on  the  Yellowstone.  The  two  vessels  had 
left  Jeffersonville,  Indiana,  together  and  had  taken  on 
board  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  the  families  and 
the  personal  property  of  the  officers  of  the  5th  Infantry, 
which  were  to  be  conveyed  to  Tongue  River  Barracks. 
When  the  Don  Cameron  sunk  she  had  on  board  about 
seventy-five  passengers,  principally  women,  including  the 
wife  of  General  Miles  and  her  sister.  Miss  Lizzie  Sher- 
man, a  niece  of  the  General.  The  boat  had  gone  down 
quickly  in  eighteen  feet  of  water,  but  by  heroic  work 
the  crew  of  the  Sherman,  which  was  close  at  hand,  suc- 
ceeded in  rescuing  them  all.  The  Sherman  had  then 
taken  them  on  to  their  destination,  but  all  the  private 
property  of  the  regiment  had  been  lost  in  the  wreck  and 
was  never  recovered. 

The  Rosebud  reached  Bismarck  early  in  July  and  here 
Captain  Marsh  found  a  distinguished  party  awaiting  his 
arrival.     It  included  W.  T.  Sherman,  General  of  the  Army 

369 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


of  the  United  States;  Colonels  Poe  and  Bacon  of  his  staff; 
General  Terry,  Major  Card,  Department  Quartermaster; 
and  Captain  Smith,  Aide-de-camp.  General  Sherman 
was  making  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  western  posts  and 
had  arrived  at  Bismarck  on  his  way  to  the  Yellowstone. 
Being  met  here  by  the  Department  commander.  General 
Terry,  the  latter  advised  that  they  wait  the  arrival  of  Cap- 
tain Marsh,  who  was  expected  soon,  as  he  did  not  wish  to 
intrust  the  safety  of  his  distinguished  visitor  in  the  hands  of 
a  less  experienced  navigator.  It  was  not  a  difficult  matter 
to  accommodate  the  party  comfortably,  for  the  cabin  of 
the  Rosebud  was  much  more  commodious  than  that  of  the 
Far  West,  and  as  soon  as  the  details  were  arranged  the 
northward  journey  began. 

Brief  halts  were  made  at  Fort  Stevenson  and  Fort 
Buford  and  the  boat  then  entered  the  Yellowstone  on 
her  way  to  the  cantonment  on  the  Tongue.  Nothing  of 
particular  interest  had  as  yet  occurred,  though  many 
boats  were  passed,  either  carrying  up  supplies  or  returning 
for  fresh  cargoes.  But  at  the  mouth  of  Glendive  Creek, 
General  Miles  was  unexpectedly  encountered.  The 
indefatigable  Indian  fighter  had  just  reached  the  Glen- 
dive on  one  of  the  almost  unnumbered  hard  scouts  which 
he  was  constantly  making  over  his  district  in  pursuit  of 
the  Sioux  who  were  still  avoiding  surrender.  When  the 
Rosebud  arrived,  he  left  the  field  for  a  brief  space  to  ac- 
company the  commanding  general  to  his  own  rude  head- 
quarters, which  he  seldom  occupied  during  those  troub- 
lous days.     His  scouting  column,  consisting  of  nine  troops 

370 


Photograph  by  D.  F.  Barry. 

STEAMER  ROSEBUD  ON   THE   MISSOIRI   RIVER, 
NEAR   FORT  BENTON 


The  ''Rosebud" 


of  the  7th  Cavalry  and  six  mounted  companies  of  tl.e 
5th  Infantry,  he  turned  over  temporarily  to  the  command 
of  Col.  S.  D.  Sturgis,  7th  Cavalry.*  General  Miles  had 
left  the  cantonment  for  this  scout  on  July  4th.  It  was 
now  the  15th,  and  on  the  11th  the  Government  steamer 
Sherman  had  reached  the  post  with  his  wife  on  board. 
But  he  had  not  yet  seen  her,  nor  did  he  until  the  Rose- 
bud  came  in  at  the  Tongue,  about  four  o'clock  on  the 
afternoon  of  July  16th. 

In  the  isolated  posts  of  the  upper  Missouri  and  the 
Yellowstone  the  monotony  of  daily  life  sometimes  be- 
came almost  unbearable.  At  each  one  of  them  the  gar- 
rison was  a  world  unto  itself  during  at  least  eight  months 
of  the  year.  Each  one  had  within  it  a  little  cluster  of 
crude  buildings  sufficient  to  house  the  troops  and  their 
supplies,  and  without,  a  wilderness  peopled  only  by  prow- 
ling savages.  Usually  the  only  relief  from  the  ceaseless 
round  of  garrison  drudgery  was  found  in  occasional  scouts, 
while  the  only  evidence  of  "the  pomp  and  circumstance 
of  glorious  war"  was  the  brief  burial  ceremony  now  and 
then  required  over  the  grave  of  some  comrade  stricken 
down  by  a  Sioux  bullet.  In  such  surroundings  it  is  not 
surprising  that  many  soldiers  became  restless  and  dis- 
satisfied, nor  that  desertions  were  frequent. 

*  Though  his  name  is  seldom  mentioned  in  this  connection,  Colonel 
and  Brevet  Mai. -Gen.  S.  D.  Sturgis,  a  distinguished  officer  of  the  Union 
Army  during  the  Rebellion,  wa-s  the  actual  colonel  of  the  7th  Cavalry 
during  nearly  all  of  the  time  that  Lieut.-Col.  G.  A.  Custer  held  active 
command  of  the  regiment.  General  Sturgis  was  assigned  to  the  col- 
onelcy in  1869  and  retained  it  until  his  retirement  from  the  service  in 
1886.  During  a  great  part  of  the  time  he  was  on  detached  ser\-ice,  but 
after  the  death  of  Custer  he  assumed  active  command. — J.  M.  H. 


371 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


At  Tongue  River  Barracks  in  1877  these  conditions 
did  not  yet  prevail  to  so  great  an  extent  as  they  did  in  later 
years,  for  the  garrison  was  still  chiefly  occupied  in  active 
campaigning,  which  furnished  a  sufficiency  of  excite- 
ment. Nevertheless,  it  may  be  imagined  that  at  such  a 
post  the  advent  of  so  important  a  personage  as  General 
Sherman  was  an  event  of  great  moment.  As  the  Rose- 
bud drew  near  on  that  July  afternoon  it  was  easily  to 
be  seen  that  the  news  of  her  approach  had  traveled  ahead 
and  that  preparations  had  been  made  to  give  the  com- 
manding general  a  fitting  reception.  At  the  landing, 
when  the  boat  drew  up,  were  assembled  all  the  officers 
present  in  garrison,  and  as  General  Sherman  and  his 
attendants  stepped  ashore  the  regimental  band  of  the 
5th  Infantry  struck  up  a  martial  air,  for  the  cantonment 
boasted  no  artillery  and  the  customary  salute  had,  per- 
force, to  be  dispensed  with.  Preceded  by  the  band,  the 
party  walked  up  to  the  post,  where  General  Miles  was 
privileged  to  meet  his  wife  after  a  year's  separation, 
and  General  Sherman  to  greet  both  her  and  his  other 
niece.  Miss  Lizzie  Sherman.  It  was  a  strange  place  for 
such  a  family  reunion,  out  there  on  the  banks  of  the  Yel- 
lowstone, amid  the  alarms  of  border  warfare,  and  the  fact 
was  brought  home  to  them  even  while  they  were  ex- 
changing greetings  by  the  appearance  across  the  river  of  a 
mounted  battalion  of  the  5th  Infantry,  which  had  been 
out  on  the  scout  with  General  Miles  and  was  just  returning. 

That  night  General  Sherman  accepted  the  hospitality 
of  General  Miles  and  remained  on  shore,  but  all  the  other 

372 


The  ''Rosebud'' 


visiting  officers  returned  to  sleep  in  their  cabins  on  the 
steamer.  The  following  morning  was  spent  by  General 
Sherman  in  looking  over  the  cantonment  and  reservation 
and  in  examining  the  new  and  permanent  post  then  in 
course  of  construction  about  one  mile  and  a  half  west  from 
the  old.  The  new  post  was  to  be  called  Fort  Keogh,  in 
memory  of  one  of  the  gallant  troop  commanders  of  the 
7th  Cavalry  who  had  fallen  with  Custer.  It  was  being 
built  by  about  200  mechanics  under  the  direction  of  Cap- 
tain Heintzelman,  assistant  quartermaster.  In  the  even- 
ing. General  Sherman  received  the  officers  and  their 
wives  at  General  Miles'  quarters. 

At  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  the  officers 
of  the  garrison  appeared  on  board  the  Rosebud  to  pay  their 
official  respects  to  General  Terry,  who  carried  his  head- 
quarters there,  and  at  six  o'clock  that  evening  a  dress 
parade  and  review  were  held  on  the  plain  near  the  post. 
The  troops  participating  were  the  band  and  eight  com- 
panies of  the  5th  Infantry,  four  of  the  companies,  com- 
prising the  battalion  of  Captain  Snyder,  being  mounted 
on  Indian  ponies.  It  was  an  unusual  event  for  the  hard- 
worked  soldiers,  reminding  them  of  earlier  days  they  had 
spent  in  the  pleasant  stations  of  the  East,  where  dress 
parade  was  a  part  of  the  daily  routine.  But  the  interest 
of  this  occasion  was  enhanced  by  an  addition  to  the  usual 
ceremonies  which  could  have  been  made  only  before  a 
body  of  troops  engaged  in  active  warfare,  and  that  of  the 
sort  which  breeds  heroes.  While  the  companies  were 
standing  on  parade  previous  to  passing  in  review  before 

373 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


General  Sherman  and  the  other  officers  and  the  ladies 
of  the  garrison,  some  thirty  enlisted  men  were  called  by 
name  from  the  ranks  and  marched  to  the  front  and  center, 
accompanied  by  the  colors.  Upon  the  breast  of  each 
General  Sherman  then  pinned  a  Medal  of  Honor,  awarded 
to  the  recipient  for  some  specific  act  of  gallantry  during 
the  hard-fought  engagements  with  the  Sioux  in  the  pre- 
ceding winter.  It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  win  a  medal 
for  bravery  from  Congress,  and  perhaps  nowhere  else 
than  at  the  Tongue  River  cantonment  could  so  many 
men  have  been  found  deserving  of  such  recognition. 
During  the  northwestern  Indian  Wars  in  the  years  1876 
and  1877,  the  ratio  of  loss  of  officers  and  men  to  the  num- 
ber engaged  was  equal  to,  if  not  greater  than,  the  ratio  of 
loss  to  the  numbers  engaged  on  either  side  during  the 
Civil  War.*  The  fact  is  hard  to  realize,  but  it  is  plain 
that  under  such  circumstances  there  was  no  dearth  of 
opportunities  for  gallantry  in  action. 

At  ten  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  parade.  Generals 
Sherman  and  Terry  bade  farewell  to  their  hospitable 
hosts  at  Tongue  River  and  the  Rosebud  resumed  her 
journey.  Following  the  course  of  his  memorable  trip  of 
the  year  before,  when  the  boat  reached  the  mouth  of  the 
Big  Horn,  Captain  Marsh  turned  her  into  that  stream  and 
steamed  up  to  the  Little  Big  Horn.  But  a  different  scene 
greeted  his  eyes  from  the  desolate  one  he  had  looked 
upon  thirteen  months  earlier,  when  lying  at  this  spot  wait- 
ing for  Reno's  wounded.  Now,  600  yards  above  the 
*  Official  Report  of  Gen.  P.  H.  Sheridan.  1877-78. 

374 


The  ''Rosebud'' 


mouth  of  the  tributary  were  encamped  four  companies 
of  the  11th  Infantry  under  Major  G.  P.  Buell.  On  the 
high  ground  nearby,  the  framework  of  substantial  build- 
ings, corresponding  in  number  and  general  design  to  the 
ones  at  Fort  Abraham  Lincoln,  were  rapidly  rising  under 
the  hands  of  the  one  hundred  mechanics  who  had  been 
there  since  July  1st.  Across  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Big 
Horn  a  boom  was  stretched  with  hundreds  of  logs  floating 
behind  it,  which  a  saw-mill  close  to  the  bank  was  busily 
cutting  into  lumber.  Up  in  the  timbered  valley  beyond 
could  be  heard  the  ringing  axes  of  wood-cutters  felling  yet 
more  timber  to  go  into  the  structures  which  ere  long  were 
to  become  the  post  of  Fort  Custer.  At  this  point,  General 
Sherman  said  good-bye  to  General  Terry  and  to  Captain 
Marsh  and  his  steamer.  Escorted  by  a  troop  of  the 
7th  Cavalry,  sent  up  from  Tongue  River  Barracks  for  the 
purpose,  he  departed  for  Fort  Ellis  overland,  passing 
around  to  view  the  Custer  battleground  on  his  way. 


375 


CHAPTER  XLIV 

THE    BONES    OF    HEROES 

To  that  lone  region  vnld  of  brawling  streams 
And  beetling,  craggy  cliffs  and  naked  plain. 
Where,  on  a  sultry  summer's  day,  lay  slain 
Heroic  Custer  and  his  gallant  men. 

THE  battlefield  of  the  Little  Big  Horn  when  General 
Sherman  looked  upon  it,  was  not  in  the  condition 
in  which  it  had  remained  for  more  than  a  year 
after  the  fight.  Only  a  few  weeks  before  the  commanding 
general  reached  the  historic  scene  of  disaster,  a  detach- 
ment of  troops  had  visited  the  spot  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  clearing  the  field  of  the  debris  of  battle,  properly 
interring  the  remains  of  the  soldiers  slain  there,  and 
recovering  and  taking  away  the  bodies  of  the  ofiicers. 
The  party  detailed  for  the  duty  was  Troop  I  of  the  7th 
Cavalry,  under  Captain  Nowlan.  Col.  Michael  V.  Sheri- 
dan, a  brother  of  Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan  and  a  member 
of  his  staff,  was  in  general  charge  of  the  burial  party, 
while  Sergeant  M.  C.  Caddie,  the  non-commissioned 
officer  who  had  served  so  faithfully  on  the  Far  West  dur- 
ing the  preceding  year,  was  with  Troop  I. 

Captain  Marsh  bore  no  personal  share  in  the  expedition 
of  Colonel  Sheridan,  as  the  latter  went  to  and  returned 

376 


The  Bones  of  Heroes 


from  the  battlefield  on  the  steamer  Fletcher.  But  he  was 
naturally  much  interested  in  the  results  of  the  trip  and 
became  thoroughly  acquainted  with  them  through  his 
friendship  with  Sergeant  Caddie  and  other  participants. 
It  may  therefore  be  excusable  to  mention  here  some  facts 
concerning  the  work  of  the  burial  party  which  are  vouched 
for  by  Sergeant  Caddie,  though  they  seem  to  have  remained 
practically  unknown  until  the  present  time,  to  everyone 
save  the  men  who  were  in  that  party. 

Troop  I  in  the  battle  of  the  Little  Big  Horn  had  been 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Myles  W.  Keogh,  who, 
together  with  every  man  of  the  troop  present  on  the 
field,  had  been  killed.  Later  the  troop  was  reorganized 
with  recruits  and  the  few  survivors  of  the  old  organization 
who  had  been  absent  from  the  colors  on  the  fatal  25th  of 
June.  Among  the  latter  had  been  Sergeant  Caddie. 
When  Custer's  column  moved  out  on  the  campaign, 
Caddie  had  been  detailed  to  remain  at  Powder  River  in 
charge  of  the  7th  Cavalry's  property  which  was  left  there. 
Ownng  to  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  officers  and 
men  of  his  regiment,  particularly  those  of  Keogh 's  troop, 
the  Sergeant  was  able  to  be  of  much  assistance  in  iden- 
tifying the  dead  when  Colonel  Sheridan  reached  the  field 
in  July,  1877. 

All  the  ofiicial  reports  published  after  the  battle,  all 
the  personal  narratives  by  survivors  of  Reno's  and  Gib- 
bon's troops,  and  all  the  later  histories  which  the  author 
has  had  access  to,  state,  if  they  mention  the  matter  at 
all,  that  on  Wednesday,   June  the  28th,    1876,   Reno's 

377 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


and  Gibbon's  men,  "buried  the  dead"  of  Custer's  com- 
mand. Sergeant  Caddie,*  on  the  other  hand,  declares 
that  when  Colonel  Sheridan's  burial  party  arrived  at  the 
field  a  year  later,  they  found  all  the  skeletons  lying  on  top 
of  the  ground.  This  is  accounted  for,  the  Sergeant  says, 
by  the  fact  that  immediately  after  the  battle  the  survivors 
and  the  relief  column  had  no  means  of  digging  graves. 
There  had  been  not  a  pick  nor  a  shovel  with  Custer's 
command,  and  probably  there  were  not  a  half-dozen 
such  implements  with  Gibbon's  troops.  Both  columns 
had  set  out  on  forced  marches,  and  they  were  not  carrying 
a  pound  of  superfluous  baggage.  Under  such  circum- 
stances and  with  the  limited  time  at  their  disposal,  the 
task  of  digging  over  260  graves  in  the  hard  prairie  soil 
was  manifestly  an  impossible  one.  Nor  does  it  seem  to 
have  been  seriously  attempted. 

Colonel  Sheridan  and  his  men  camped  on  the  field  for 
about  ten  days,  interring  the  bones.  Sergeant  Caddie 
states  that  the  bodies  of  all  of  the  officers  who  had  fallen, 
excepting  two  who  were  never  found,  were  placed  in 
coffins.  Each  body  had  a  stake  at  its  head  marked  with 
a  number  to  correspond  with  the  name  in  a  list  which  had 
been  prepared  immediately  after  the  fight.  The  Sergeant 
says  that  when  they  came  to  the  body  marked  Number 
One  in  the  list  and  on  the  stake  at  its  head,  and  supposed 
to  be  that  of  General  Custer,  it  was  placed  in  a  coffin, 
and  then  on  the  ground  was  found  a  blouse  on  which 
it  had  been  lying.  An  examination  of  the  blouse  revealed 
*  In  personal  letters  to  the  author  and  to  Captain  Marsh. 

378 


The  Bones  of  Heroes 


the  name  of  the  wearer  in  an  inside  pocket;  it  was  that 
of  a  corporal.  It  was  a  disconcerting  discovery  to  find 
that  even  the  General  could  not  be  satisfactorily  identified, 
but  the  Sergeant  goes  on  to  state  that  later  they  "found 
another  body  and  placed  in  coffin.  I  think  we  got  right 
body  the  second  time." 

Gen.  Edward  S.  Godfrey,  undoubtedly  the  best  living 
authority  on  the  campaign  of  the  Little  Big  Horn  in  all  its 
aspects,  throws  further  light  on  this  distressing  topic  in 
a  letter  to  the  author,  in  which  he  says: 

"What  Sergeant  Caddie  says  as  to  the  burial  of  the  greater 
number  of  the  bodies  is  pretty  correct.  There  were  very  few  tools 
in  the  command.  Each  troop  had  a  certain  part  of  the  ground  to 
go  over  and  bury  the  dead  within  its  limits.  But  I  feel  quite  sure 
that  in  the  case  of  the  officers  greater  care  was  exercised.  Cap- 
tain H.  J.  Nowlan,  7th  Cavalry,  told  me  that  he  marked  the 
grave  of  each  officer  with  a  stake  driven  below  the  surface  of 
the  ground.  The  name  of  the  officer  was  written,  on  a  slip  of 
paper,  this  paper  was  put  in  an  empty  cartridge  shell,  and  this 
shell  driven  into  the  top  of  the  stake.  He  made  a  sketch  of  the 
ground  to  show  the  location  of  the  grave  of  each  officer,  and  he 
went  with  General  M.  V.  Sheridan  when  the  bodies  were  re- 
moved. In  some  cases  part  of  the  bones  were  somewhat  re- 
moved from  the  places  of  burial,  but  Captain  Nowlan  told  me 
great  care  was  taken  in  their  collection." 

On  the  field  Sergeant  Caddie  picked  up  a  shoe  which 
he  recognized  as  having  belonged  to  Captain  Keogh.* 
Most  of  his  former  comrades  of  Troop  I  he  was  able  to 

*  There  seem  to  have  been  more  rehcs  of  Captain  Keogh  recovered 
than  of  any  other  officer  who  fell  with  Custer.  His  horse,  Comanche, 
was  saved,  as  previously  related,  while  among  other  booty  of  the  7th 
Cavalry  recovered  by  General  Crook  on  the  battlefield  of  Slim  Buttes, 
Dakota,  was  one  of  Captain  Keogh's  gauntlets,  marked  with  his  name. 

379 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


identify  by  their  clothing  and  other  distinguishing  marks 
which  he  found.  All  were  lying  as  they  had  fallen,  in 
skirmish  line  about  nine  feet  apart.  Before  the  burial 
party  left,  each  grave  was  marked  with  a  wooden  head- 
board on  which  was  painted  the  name  and  rank  of  the 
dead,  if  known.  A  number  of  them  had  to  be  marked 
"Unknown."  A  large  monument  was  also  put  up  on 
the  spot  where  General  Custer  was  supposed  to  have 
fallen.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  pyramid  and  was  con- 
structed of  cord-wood,  the  interior  being  filled  with  bones 
of  the  dead  horses  which  were  scattered  all  over  the  field. 
The  head-boards  have  all  since  been  replaced  by  stones, 
while  a  handsome  monolith  now  stands  instead  of  the 
first  crude  pile  of  timber,  as  sentinel  over  the  field  of  glory. 
Sergeant  Caddie  relates  an  incident  of  the  battle  itself 
which  is  not  generally  known.  The  stories  have  often 
been  told  of  the  troopers,  Morton,  Goldin  and  Kanipe,  who 
were  sent  from  Custer's  column  with  orders  to  Reno  and 
Benteen  after  the  parting  of  the  squadrons  and  who  thus 
narrowly  escaped  with  their  lives.  But  there  was  yet 
another  man  who  slipped  through  the  jaws  of  death  even 
later  than  they  did,  though  perhaps  the  fact  that  he  did 
so  involuntarily  deterred  him  from  ever  making  a  public 
statement  of  his  adventure.  Sergeant  Caddie,  in  a  letter 
to  Captain  Marsh,  gives  a  brief  account  of  the  incident 
which  may  as  well  be  given  here  in  his  own  words,  since 
it  leaves  nothing  to  be  added: 

"...     There  was  one  thing  I  forgot  to  mention  about 
the  Custer  fight   that   very   few   know   about.     The  company 

380 


The  Bones  of  Heroes 


blacksmith  of  I  Company,  7th  Cavalry,  Captain  Keogh's  com- 
pany, was  Gustave  Korn.  When  the  command  was  about  a 
half  mile  from  the  Indian  camp,  he  had  to  stop  to  cinch  up  his 
saddle.  When  he  came  up  to  the  company  again  he  could  not 
stop  his  horse,  which  ran  right  through  the  Indians  to  where 
Colonel  Reno  was.  His  horse  dropped  dead  just  when  about 
two  rods  from  the  breastworks.  He  was  shot  five  times.  The 
man  did  not  get  a  scratch. 

"This  same  Gustave  Korn  was  one  of  the  first  men  killed 
at  Wounded  Knee,  S.  D.,  1890.  The  horse  that  Korn  had 
killed  was  the  first  horse  that  was  issued  to  me  when  I  came  to 
N.  D.,  in  1873.  I  traded  with  Korn  before  starting  out  on 
trip,  for  another  horse.     ..." 

After  General  Sherman  had  left  the  steamer  Rosebud 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Big  Horn,  the  boat  returned  to 
Fort  Keogh  with  General  Terry  still  on  board.  She  was 
met  at  the  fort  by  General  Miles,  who  informed  Captain 
Marsh  that  he  desired  the  boat  to  remain  in  the  Yellow- 
stone during  the  balance  of  the  summer  for  the  purpose 
of  transporting  supplies.  General  Terry  therefore  left  the 
Rosebud  and  went  on  board  the  Far  West,  which  was 
about  departing  for  Fort  Buford,  while  Captain  Marsh 
began  running  his  steamer  in  quartermaster's  service 
between  the  Tongue  and  the  Big  Horn,  continuing  the 
work  until  the  water  became  too  low  for  navigation. 

The  sudden  and  remarkable  dash  of  Chief  Joseph  and 
his  non-treaty  Nez  Perce  Indians  from  northwestern 
Oregon  across  Idaho  and  Montana  almost  to  the  British 
line,  furnished  plenty  of  excitement  for  the  soldiers  during 
the  late  summer.  General  Miles,  hurrying  across  country, 
intercepted   the  Nez   Perce  fugitives  at  the  Bear  Paw 

381 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Mountains,  nearly  on  the  Line,  and  prevented  them  from 
forming  the  junction  with  Sitting  Bull,  which  they  con- 
templated. But  the  campaign  was  fought  far  from  the 
Yellowstone  regions  where  Captain  Marsh  was  stationed 
and  he  had  no  part  in  it.  Indeed,  he  seldom  left  his  boat 
at  all,  for  she  was  very  busy  all  through  the  season  in 
carrying  to  Fort  Custer  the  supplies  brought  up  to  Fort 
Keogh  by  other  boats  which  were  of  too  deep  draught  to 
convey  them  further. 

The  round  trip  between  the  two  posts  usually  occupied 
only  a  few  days  and  it  soon  became  customary  on  almost 
every  trip  for  some  of  the  ladies  of  the  Fort  Keogh  garrison 
to  make  the  journey  for  pleasure.  It  furnished  a  welcome 
break  in  the  monotony  of  their  life  at  the  post,  and  since 
the  danger  of  Indian  attacks  had  ceased  to  be  as  great 
as  formerly,  Captain  Marsh  was  glad  to  have  them 
along.  On  one  occasion  Miss  Lizzie  Sherman  and  Mrs. 
C.  E.  Hargous,  wife  of  the  First  Lieutenant  commanding 
Company  C,  5th  Infantry,  made  the  trip,  escorted  by 
Lieutenants  O.  F.  Long  and  H.  K.  Bailey  of  the  5th. 
Both  of  the  ladies,  but  especially  Miss  Sherman,  speedily 
won  the  approval  of  Captain  Marsh  by  their  cheerful  tem- 
pers and  the  uncomplaining  spirit  with  which  they  bore 
the  little  inconveniences  unavoidable  to  travelers  in  such 
a  country. 

As  usual,  the  boat  made  frequent  landings  to  obtain 
firewood,  and  when  she  did  so  it  was  the  duty  of  her 
officers  to  take  their  guns  and  go  out  with  the  working 
party  as  guards  against  Indian  attack.     The  ladies  usually 

382 


The  Bones  of  Heroes 


improved  these  opportunities  to  walk  ashore  and  ramble 
along  the  bank  near  the  boat  with  their  escorts.  Toward 
sunset  one  evening  the  Rosebud  landed  at  the  side  of  a 
bluff  covered  with  good-sized  pine  trees,  and  the  crew 
went  out  after  logs,  which  they  were  to  take  on  board 
and  saw  up  under  way.  Captain  Marsh  accompanied 
the  choppers  and  while  standing  near  them  at  the  crest  of 
the  bluff,  rifle  in  hand,  he  heard  his  name  called.  He 
turned  and  saw  Miss  Sherman  and  Lieutenant  Long  a 
little  way  down  the  slope.  The  young  lady  was  beckon- 
ing to  him  excitedly  and  calling: 

"  Come,  quick,  Captain !    Bring  your  gun ! " 

He  hastened  down  and  as  he  reached  her  side  she  was 
looking  with  trepidation  at  a  hollow  log  lying  near,  while 
Lieutenant  Long  was  half-laughingly  trying  to  quiet  her 
alarm. 

"Oh,  Captain  Marsh,"  exclaimed  Miss  Sherman,  as 
he  came  up,  "a  big,  striped  snake  just  ran  past  me  into 
that  log.     I  saw  it.     Please  shoot  it  quick,  oh,  please!" 

The  captain  walked  over  and  peered  into  the  log,  but 
he  could  see  nothing.  His  action  naturally  increased 
Miss  Sherman's  agitation  and  she  implored  him  to  "shoot 
quick!"  So,  being  anxious  to  display  his  gallantry  in 
the  presence  of  so  pretty  a  girl,  he  thrust  the  muzzle  of  his 
gun  into  the  hole  and  blazed  away.  Scarcely  had  the 
report  of  the  shot  sounded  when  something  leaped  forth 
from  the  log  and,  darting  across  the  open  space,  disap- 
peared in  the  bushes.  There  was  a  moment  of  silence 
while  each  looked  at  the  other  in  horrified  surprise.     Then 

383 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


everyone  turned  and  with  significant  speed  fled  to  the 
boat  and  disappeared  within  their  respective  cabins. 
A  few  moments  later,  if  someone  had  stepped  to  the 
stern  of  the  Rosebud,  he  might  have  discovered,  floating 
away  on  the  swift  current  of  the  YeUowstone,  some 
objects  strongly  resembling  human  wearing  apparel. 
And  such,  in  fact,  they  were.  Miss  Sherman's  "big, 
striped  snake"  was  striped,  undoubtedly;  her  only  error 
had  been  in  mistaking  a  quadruped  for  a  reptile,  for  the 
quarry  was  a  polecat  and  he  had  left  his  pursuers  with 
very  positive  evidence  as  to  his  identity. 

When  the  Rosebud  finally  went  out  of  the  river  in  the 
fall,  Miss  Sherman  was  a  passenger  as  far  as  Bismarck. 
On  bidding  Captain  Marsh  farewell,  she  gave  him  this 
solemn,  parting  injunction: 
"  Captain,  beware  of  the  snakes  on  the  Yellowstone ! " 
During  the  following  winter  Miss  Sherman  was  married 
to  Senator  Don  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania.  Though 
Captain  Marsh  never  saw  his  fair  passenger  again  after 
she  left  his  boat  at  Bismarck,  her  advice  has  not  been 
forgotten. 


S84 


CHAPTER   XLV 

RUSTLERS 

Come,  take  up  your  cinchat 
And  shake  up  your  reiru; 
Come,  wake  up  your  broncho 
And  break  fur  (he  plains  I 

A  FTER  lying  dormant  for  seven  years,  the  North- 
/-%  ern  Pacific  Railroad,  in  the  spring  of  1879,  at 
length  began  pushing  construction  work  west- 
ward on  its  line  from  Bismarck.  The  first  division  on 
which  actual  operations  were  undertaken  extended  from 
the  Missouri  River  due  west  about  one  hundred  miles 
toward  the  Little  Missouri.  During  the  summer  the 
surveyors,  graders  and  track-layers  were  exposed  to  great 
danger  from  Indians,  and  four  companies  of  infantry 
from  Forts  Buford  and  Lincoln  remained  constantly 
with  them  as  they  moved  forward.  The  Indians  who 
made  such  precautions  necessary  were  chiefly  from  the 
camps  of  Sitting  Bull  in  British  America.  Since  his  escape 
to  alien  territory  three  years  before  with  his  thirty  wretched 
lodges,  the  haughty  trouble-maker  of  the  Sioux  had 
gained  in  strength  and  importance  almost  daily.  The 
restless  elements  in  all  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest  natur- 

385 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


ally  regarded  him  as  the  master-spirit  of  disaffection 
and  it  became  the  ambition  of  every  unruly  red  man  from 
the  boundaries  of  Nebraska  to  the  mountain  valleys  of 
Idaho  to  make  his  way  to  the  camps  of  Sitting  Bull. 
There  he  fondly  imagined  he  would  find  again  the  old- 
time  freedom  and  plenty  which  had  vanished  forever 
from  the  regions  he  had  been  wont  to  roam. 

It  was  this  vision  of  barbaric  liberty  to  be  found  beyond 
the  Line  which  gave  Chief  Joseph  the  impulse  to  lead  his 
Nez  Perce  followers  on  their  desperate  northward  dash 
in  1877;  which  impelled  the  Bannock  tribesmen  to  essay 
the  same  adventure  a  twelvemonth  later,  and  which  for 
years  sent  little  parties  straggling  northward  constantly 
from  the  great  reservations  along  the  Missouri.  In  1879 
General  Miles  estimated  that  the  camps  of  Sitting  Bull 
contained  not  less  than  6,000,  and  possibly  as  many  as 
8,000  souls,  and  from  12,000  to  15,000  horses.*  The 
Dominion  authorities  permitted  this  formidable  body 
of  hostiles  to  remain  unmolested  on  their  soil,  gathering 
all  the  arms  and  ammunition  necessary  for  frequent  in- 
cursions into  the  United  States.  Such  incursions  be- 
came more  numerous  as  time  went  on,  for  the  Indians 
did  not  find  the  easy  existence  in  their  new  abode  which 
they  anticipated.  Game  was  becoming  almost  as  scarce 
north  of  the  Line  as  south  of  it  and  to  keep  themselves 
from  starvation.  Sitting  Bull's  followers  resorted  to  raids 
into  Montana,  where  many  pioneer  farmers  and  stock- 
raisers  fell  easy  victims  to  their  attacks. 

*  General  Terry's  Official  Report,  1879-80. 

386 


Rustlers 

In  spite  of  the  dangers  they  were  compelled  to  en- 
counter, settlers  poured  into  the  fertile  valleys  of  the 
Missouri  and  the  Yellowstone,  most  of  them  engaging  in 
the  herding  of  cattle,  for  which  industry  the  country  was 
peculiarly  suited.  In  March,  1880,  Lieutenant  Maguire, 
an  officer  of  the  Corps  of  Engineers  who  visited  the  country 
on  surveying  and  scientific  work,  found  600  people  in  the 
new  settlement  of  Miles  City,  under  the  shadow  of  Fort 
Keogh,  fifty-four  settlers  between  that  place  and  Fort 
Buford,  seventy-two  ranchers  along  Tongue  River,  and 
588  white  people  in  the  Yellowstone  Valley  above  Fort 
Keogh,  of  whom  seventy-seven  were  women,  while  over 
23,000  cattle  and  8,000  sheep  were  being  grazed  over  the 
prairies  from  which  the  buffalo  and  other  wild  creatures 
were  rapidly  disappearing.*  But  in  protecting  these  in- 
fant settlements  from  Sitting  Bull's  warriors  and  those 
white  outlaws  of  the  border  who  were  scarcely  less  ruth- 
less, the  garrisons  of  Forts  Keogh  and  Custer,  Ellis  and 
Shaw  and  Buford,  were  kept  busy  night  and  day.  Hardly 
a  week  passed  that  scouts  were  not  out  from  one  or  more 
of  the  army  posts  in  pursuit  of  marauders,  red  or  white, 
who  had  been  raiding  ranches  and  farms  and  committing 
robbery  and  murder. 

As  in  the  early  mining  days  of  western  Montana  fifteen 
years  before,  "Sheriff"  Plummer  and  his  cut-throat 
confederates  had  long  held  the  community  in  terror, 
so  now  in  the  new  grazing  country  of  eastern  Montana  a 
younger  generation  of  desperadoes  preyed  on  a  people  as 
*  Report  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  1880-81. 
387 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


yet  too  feeble  to  enforce  the  laws.  Among  the  bad- 
lands back  from  the  Yellowstone  and  in  the  remote  fast- 
nesses of  the  hills  along  the  Little  Missouri,  the  outlaws 
found  safe  havens  whence  they  might  sally  forth  to  way- 
lay travelers  or  swoop  down  by  night  upon  the  scattered 
cattle  herds  pasturing  in  the  river  bottoms.  From  their 
dual  occupation  the  outlaws  became  equally  well  known 
as  "cattle  rustlers"  and  "road  agents,"  and  they  gave  the 
troops  almost  as  much  trouble  as  the  Indians.  When 
business  became  dull  in  their  shady  professions  they  would 
turn  temporarily  to  the  trap  and  the  rifle  and  secure  a 
few  peltries  for  barter  at  the  nearest  post.  Or,  shoulder- 
ing their  axes,  they  would  go  down  to  a  timber  point  and 
cut  cord-wood  for  passing  steamers.  But  while  posing 
as  industrious  frontiersmen,  eager  to  earn  an  honest  dollar, 
they  were  ever  on  the  alert  for  opportunities  to  practice 
their  chosen  vocations.  Nor  were  they  at  any  pains  to 
conceal  the  fact,  for  they  held  the  fragile  law  of  the  settle- 
ments in  utter  contempt,  as  one  of  Captain  Marsh's  ex- 
periences with  them  well  illustrates. 

After  the  season  of  1877  the  captain  gave  up  the  steamer 
Rosebud  and,  at  the  same  time,  his  long  connection  with 
the  Coulson  Packet  Company.  The  following  spring  he 
engaged  himself  to  the  firm  of  Leighton  and  Jordan,  post 
traders  at  Forts  Buford  and  Keogh  and  at  Poplar  River 
Agency,  on  the  Fort  Peck  Indian  Reservation.  Leigh- 
ton  and  Jordan  were  constantly  receiving  large  quantities 
of  freight  from  Bismarck  during  the  open  season,  and 
they  determined  for  the  sake  of  economy  to  have  a  steam- 

388 


Rustlers 

boat  of  their  own.  Accordingly,  during  the  winter  of 
1877-78,  a  boat  was  built  for  them  at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  under 
the  direction  of  an  Eastern  partner  in  tlieir  business, 
Capt.  C.  W.  Batchelor  of  Pittsburg.  The  new  vessel  was 
named  the  F.  Y.  Batchelor,  in  memory  of  a  deceased 
brother  of  the  captain.  Early  in  the  spring  Captain 
Marsh  entered  into  a  contract  with  Leighton  and  Jor- 
dan to  take  command  of  the  boat  and  he  went  East  to 
bring  her  up  to  Bismarck. 

On  the  9th  of  May  the  Batchelor  cleared  from  Pittsburg, 
carrying  as  passengers  Captain  Batchelor  and  several  of 
his  friends,  bound  for  a  sight-seeing  tour  in  the  far  North- 
west. An  excellent  way-landing  business  was  done  along 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  to  St.  Louis  and  thence  up  the 
Missouri  to  Yankton,  where  the  boat  arrived  on  June 
3rd.  At  Ste.  Genevieve,  INIissouri,  the  places  of  the  two 
Ohio  River  engineers  were  taken  by  Missouri  River  men, 
one  of  whom  was  George  Foulk,  who  had  served  the  Far 
West  so  well  two  years  before.  Captain  Marsh's  part- 
ner at  the  wheel,  Andy  Johnson,  left  the  Batchelor  at 
Yankton  to  take  charge  of  the  Nellie  Peck,  downward 
bound.  The  river  was  high  and  rising  and  the  Batchelor 
made  a  quick  run  to  Bismarck,  where  she  arrived  on 
June  12th  and  discharged  nearly  all  the  cargo  brought 
up  from  below,  a  new  cargo  of  post  traders'  goods  being 
taken  on  for  the  upper  forts  and  for  Miles  City.  At  Bis- 
marck one  of  the  owners,  INIr.  Joseph  Leighton,  joined 
the  boat  and  on  the  12th  she  started  up  river. 

\Mien  Fort  Buford  was  reached,  Mr.  Leighton  found 
389 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


bad  news  awaiting  him.  Among  the  Government  con- 
tracts held  by  his  firm  was  one  for  keeping  the  garrison 
of  Fort  Buford  supplied  with  fresh  beef.  The  herd  for 
this  purpose  was  pastured  opposite  the  fort  in  the  point 
of  land  between  the  Missouri  and  the  Yellowstone  Rivers, 
where  the  heavy  timber  protected  the  cattle  from  inclem- 
ent weather  and  good  grazing  was  close  at  hand.  But 
one  night  just  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  Batchelor  a 
gang  of  "rustlers"  had  paid  a  visit  to  the  herd  and  the 
next  morning  fifty  fat  steers  were  missing.  When  Mr. 
Leighton  received  this  information,  his  anger  knew  no 
bounds,  but  as  he  had  never  met  with  a  similar  experience 
before  and  did  not  know  how  to  proceed,  it  seemed  that 
his  resentment  would  probably  have  to  waste  itself  with- 
out result. 

The  boat  had  not  gone  far  on  her  way  up  the  Yellow- 
stone when  she  came  to  a  newly  established  wood -yard. 
She  went  to  the  bank  to  take  on  some  fuel,  and  it  was 
then  found  that  the  proprietors  of  the  infant  industry 
were  four  men  well  known  in  the  country,  whose  repu- 
tations for  honesty  were  exceedingly  dubious.  From 
certain  of  their  remarks  which  he  overheard.  Captain 
Marsh  soon  became  convinced  that  the  seeming  wood- 
hawks  knew  a  great  deal  concerning  the  recent  disap- 
pearance of  the  beef  cattle  from  the  Fort  Buford  herd. 
He  quietly  informed  Mr.  Leighton  of  his  suspicions, 
but  had  no  sooner  done  so  than  the  latter,  bursting  with 
indignation,  rushed  over  to  the  men  and,  after  abusing 
them  roundly,  finished  his  tirade  by  announcing  that  if 

390 


Rustlers 

they  did  not  immediately  return  the  stolen  stock  he  would 
inform  Judge  Strevell,  at  Miles  City,  and  have  them 
all  arrested. 

Mr.  Leighton's  dire  threats  had  an  effect  upon  his  audi- 
tors which  was  painfully  surprising  to  him.  Not  only 
did  they  fail  to  show  any  evidences  of  consternation,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  they  laughed  at  him  scornfully  and  walked 
away.  His  torrent  of  invective  had  burst  forth  before 
Captain  Marsh  could  foresee  or  prevent  it,  and  the  cap- 
tain had  been  obliged  to  stand  by  and  listen  to  it  in  un- 
comfortable silence,  well  knowing  that  Mr.  Leighton  was 
merely  making  himself  ridiculous.  The  captain  had 
passed  through  long  years  of  experience  with  men  of 
the  hardened  class  to  which  these  rustlers  belonged,  and 
he  was  well  aware  that  they  no  more  feared  the  majestic 
name  of  Judge  Strevell  than  they  did  that  of  the  King 
of  Siam.  As  soon  as  he  could  break  in,  he  drew  Mr. 
Leighton  aside  and  exclaimed: 

"Now,  see  here,  Joe,  you're  making  a  bad  break. 
These  fellows  don't  care  anji;hing  for  that  sort  of  talk, 
and  you'll  get  no  cattle  by  raising  such  a  disturbance." 

"Well,  then,  how  in  h am  I  going  to  get  them?" 

sputtered  the  irate  trader. 

"I'll  tell  you  how  if  you'll  do  as  I  say,"  replied  the 
captain.  "The  boys  like  to  play  a  game  of  poker  now 
and  then." 

Leighton  was  mystified. 

"  Go  on,"  he  said,  doubtfully. 

"They've  got  to  have  money  to  play  it  with,  haven't 
391 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


they?  Give  it  to  them.  Make  it  $250;  five  dollars 
apiece  for  the  cattle.  Have  somebody  fix  it  up  with  the 
boys  and  give  them  fifty  five-dollar  bills,  and  the  cattle 
will  be  back  in  the  herd  mighty  soon." 

"Oh,  get  out,"  cried  Leighton.  "That's  throwing 
good  money  after  bad.  They'll  keep  the  money  and 
the  cattle,  too." 

"No,  they  won't,"  answered  the  captain.  "You  do 
as  I  say  and  you'll  get  your  cattle,  and  it's  the  only  way 
you  ever  will  get  them." 

Though  sceptical,  Mr.  Leighton  took  his  advice.  "The 
boys"  were  invited  on  board  and  went  up  river  some 
distance.  ^Vhile  the  boat  was  under  way  the  financial 
arrangement  was  made  and  the  $250  were  quietly  handed 
over  to  the  rustlers.  Then  they  went  ashore,  and  a  few 
days  later  Mr.  Leighton  received  the  comforting  intelli- 
gence that  the  missing  cattle  had  returned  to  the  herd  as 
suddenly  and  mysteriously  as  they  had  previously  van- 
ished from  it. 

When  the  Batchelor  arrived  at  Fort  Keogh  on  June  24th 
she  was  warmly  welcomed,  and  during  the  evening  the 
officers  and  ladies  of  the  post  gave  a  military  hop  on 
board,  the  music  being  furnished  by  the  regimental  band 
of  the  5th  Infantry.  Next  morning  the  boat  entered 
the  Big  Horn  on  her  way  to  Fort  Custer.  The  incidents 
of  her  journey  up  the  Big  Horn  and  of  her  stay  at  Fort 
Custer  are  interestingly  described  in  her  log,  which  was 
kept  by  the  clerk,  S.  J.  Batchelor,  writing  from  the  dic- 
tation of  Captain  Marsh: 

392 


Rustlers 


"June  26. — The  first  buffalo  was  seen  this  morning.  During 
the  day  a  great  many  were  seen,  and  many  shots  fired  at  them, 
but  we  failed  to  find  any  choice  buffalo  steaks  served  up  for  our 
meals.  Didn't  stop  to  pick  them  up.  At  0  P.  M.  we  arrived 
at  the  old  Custer  battleground  (now  Fort  Pease)  of  1873.  At 
8  P.  M.  we  entere<i  the  Big  Horn  River  and  laid  up  for  the  night 
five  miles  above  the  mouth,  having  made  the  run  from  Tongue 
River  in  two  dayhghts,  being  pronounced  the  quickest  time 
ever  made. 

"June  27. — All  hands  were  called  up  this  morning  to  see  the 
snow-capped  Big  Horn  Mountains.  To  see  the  sun  glistening 
on  the  snow,  while  we  were  sweltering  with  heat,  was  truly  a 
sight  to  be  witnessed.  The  distance  to  the  mountains  was  esti- 
mated at  seventy-five  miles,  but  seen  very  distinctly  with  the 
naked  eye.  The  Big  Horn  River  is  one  of  the  most  rapid  and 
tortuous  rivers  that  has  ever  been  navigated  by  a  steamboat. 
The  current  is  terrific  and  at  places  it  seems  impossible  for  any 
boat  to  stem  it.  Have  had  no  occasion  to  use  a  line  on  account 
of  the  current. 

"June  28. — Arrived  at  Fort  Custer  at  7  A.  M.,  being  the  first 
and  only  boat  that  has  arrived  there  this  summer.  Fort  Custer 
is  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Little  Big  Horn  and  Big  Horn 
rivers.  The  fort  stands  at  an  elevation  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  feet  above  the  river,  and  at  an  altitude  of  seven 
thousand  feet  above  the  ocean.  Part  of  the  2nd  Infantry  and 
part  of  the  11th  Cavalry,  under  command  of  General  Buell,  are 
stationed  here.  While  lying  here,  something  more  than  one 
hundred  lodges  of  Crow  Indians  were  busily  engaged  crossing 
the  river  with  all  their  plunder  and  ponies,  on  their  way  to  their 
new  reservation  on  the  Big  Horn.  It  was  a  sight  well  worth  see- 
ing. We  had  many  a  'how'  and  shake  during  our  stay.  These 
Indians  are  a  very  honest  tribe;  won't  steal  unless  they  get  a 
chance. 

"Captain  Baldwin,  Adjutant  General  of  General  Miles'  staff, 
sent  an  ambulance  to  the  boat  and  took  Captains  C.  W.  Batche- 
lor,  Warner  and  Sharpe  out  to  the  Custer  battlefield,  where 
General  Miles  had  gone  that  morning,  with  a  company  of  infan- 
try as  escort,  to  make  an  examination  of  the  battlefield.     General 

393 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Miles  ordered  horses  and  escorted  the  visitors  around  the  entire 
field,  a  distance  of  not  less  than  fifteen  miles,  pointing  out  and 
showing  them  all  prominent  places  known  in  that  terrible  strug- 
gle against  such  odds  in  which  more  than  three  hundred  brave 
men  lost  their  lives. 

"The  party  crossed  the  Little  Big  Horn  at  the  same  ford  where 
General  Reno  crossed  in  his  retreat.  'Curley,'  the  Crow  scout, 
the  only  known  hving  being  saved  from  the  Custer  massacre, 
was  interviewed  through  an  interpreter  on  the  boat,  by  General 
Miles.  More  details  and  correct  information  was  obtained 
from  him  than  had  ever  been  given.  'Curley'  had  never  re- 
covered from  the  fright  of  that  memorable  day.  General  Miles 
was  accompanied  over  the  battlefield  by  White  Horse  and  Little 
Creek,  two  Cheyenne  Indians  who  were  in  the  fight  against 
Custer.  The  Indian  village,  where  Custer  made  the  attack, 
was  five  miles  in  length  along  the  Little  Big  Horn,  and  said  to 
number  from  five  to  seven  thousand  warriors.  The  plain  where 
the  Indians  were  encamped  was  a  beautiful,  wide  prairie,  cov- 
ered with  good  grass.  The  Little  Big  Horn,  where  Reno  crossed 
on  his  retreat,  to-day  contained  water  deep  enough  to  come  to 
the  middle  of  the  saddle-flaps  of  the  horses." 

General  Miles  and  his  party  went  down  on  the  boat 
as  far  as  Fort  Keogh,  where  they  disembarked  while 
the  Batchelor  proceeded  to  Bismarck.  Later  in  the 
season,  having  discovered  that  his  boat  was  possessed 
of  unusual  speed  and  staying  powers,  Captain  Marsh 
determined  to  try  her  for  a  record.  How  well  she  suc- 
ceeded is  shown  in  the  "  Log  of  the  Steamer  F.  Y.  Batch- 
elor, Trip  No.  4,"  which  reads: 

"August  10.— Left  Bismarck  at  4 :30  P.  M.  Arrived  at  Turtle 
Creek  at  10:30  P.  M.  Took  22 J  cords  of  wood.  Met  steamer 
Josephine. 

"August  11 . — Arrived  at  Knife  River  4 :30  A.  M.  Met  steamer 
Eclipse.     Reached  Stevenson  9  A.  M.,  16^  hours  out.     Arrived 

394 


■it^ 


Rustlers 


at  old  Berthold  12:25,  19  hours  53  minutes  from  Bismarck. 
Arrived  1^  miles  below  Little  Missouri  at  4:30  P.  M.,  24  hours 
out.  Took  4  cords  wood.  Landed  at  Pleasant  Point  and  took 
25  cords.     Met  steamer  Big  Horn  a  little  above  Berthold. 

"August  12.— Arrived  at  Knife  River  No.  2  at  3  P.  M.,  34^ 
hours  out  from  Bismarck.  Met  steamer  Helena  at  7 :30  A.  M.  at 
Strawberry  Island.  Arrived  at  Tobacco  Garden  at  9:40  A.  M.; 
at  Lanning  &  Grinnell's  wood-yard  at  9:55;  took  12^  cords 
wood.  When  48  hours  out  were  ten  miles  below  the  Big  Muddy. 
Arrived  at  Big  Muddy  at  G  P.  M.,  49^  hours  out.  Arrived  at 
Buford  11 :55  P.  M.,  55  hours  and  25  minutes  out  from  Bismarck. 
We,  the  undersigned  passengers  on  the  steamer  Batchelor, 
certify  to  the  correctness  of  the  above  statement. 
L.  N.  Sanger, 

Captain,  11th  Infantry. 
SiG  Hanaiter, 
J.  E.  Walker, 

Bismarck,  D.  T."  * 

Though  the  Far  West  had  made  over  twice  the  dis- 
tance in  twenty-five  minutes  less  time  when  bringing 
Reno's  wounded  to  Fort  Lincoln  two  years  before,  she 
had  done  it  while  steaming  with  the  current.  The  Batche- 
lor, on  the  other  hand,  made  her  record  against  the  current, 
as  speed  records  are  customarily  made.  Her  time  for 
the  upstream  run  between  Bismarck  and  Fort  Buford 
has  never  been  equaled  by  another  boat. 

*  The  above  log  of  the  steamer  F.  Y.  Batchelor,  as  well  as  the  extract 
from  the  log  of  her  first  trip,  previously  quoted,  are  taken  from  "Inci- 
dents in  My  Life,"  by  Charles  William  Batchelor. 


395 


CHAPTER  XLVI 

WITH   KENDRICK   TO   THE   MUSSELSHELL 

I  was  lyirC  snug  an'  low 

In  a  hollow  full  o'  snow. 

When  the  hostiles  flanked  the  squadron 

From  a  wooded  ridge  near  by. 

IT  is  noticeable  in  the  history  of  all  Western  rivers 
that  as  railroads  have  become  well  established  to 
points  along  their  banks  the  steamboat  industry 
below  these  points  has  languished  and  finally  died.  Be- 
fore railroads  had  reached  the  Missouri  River,  St.  Louis 
was  the  commercial  center  for  the  entire  valley  of  that 
stream  and  the  starting  place  of  all  its  steamboat  lines. 
Then,  as  the  railroads  crept  into  Omaha  and  other  towns 
above  St.  Louis,  Sioux  City  became  the  base  of  naviga- 
tion; then  Yankton,  and,  at  last,  Bismarck.  The  changes 
were  wrought  quickly  and  positively.  There  was  never 
a  reaction  to  old  conditions  when  once  they  had  vanished. 
One  season  the  levee  of  a  river  town  might  be  crowded 
with  busy  packets ;  the  next,  after  the  whistle  of  the  loco- 
motive had  sounded  somewhere  along  the  shores  above 
it,  that  levee  would  be  deserted  and  grass-grown.  The 
spirit  of  the  age  demands  rapid  transportation,  and  the 
speeding  railroad  train  struck  the  knell  of  the  leisurely 

396 


With  Kendrick  to  the  Musselshell 

river  boat.  Though  in  recent  years  the  enormously  in- 
creasing demands  of  commerce  make  it  evident  that  a 
resort  will  soon  have  to  be  made  to  the  rivers  for  the 
transportation  of  slow  and  heavy  freight  in  order  to  relieve 
the  overtaxed  railroads,  the  revival  of  river  commerce  is 
still  in  the  future  and,  when  it  comes,  it  will  doubtless 
be  conducted  by  methods  differing  radically  from  those 
formerly  in  vogue. 

Though  Yankton  had  not  totally  lost  her  river  trade 
in  1878, 1879,  and  1880,  it  was  on  the  wane,  and  Bismarck, 
built  up  by  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  was  profiting 
by  the  older  city's  loss.  The  steamer  F.  Y.  BatcheloTy 
going  up  river  in  the  spring  of  1878,  spoke  but  one  boat 
between  Yankton  and  Bismarck,  while  between  Bismarck 
and  Fort  Keogh  she  spoke  six.  The  prosperous  boating 
days  of  even  the  Yellowstone  were  numbered,  however, 
and  every  rail  spiked  down  on  the  westward-creeping  line 
of  the  railroad  brought  nearer  the  time  when  the  packets, 
their  occupation  gone,  must  be  laid  upon  the  bank  to 
rust  and  decay.  But  a  few  years  of  life  were  still  left  to 
the  trade  of  the  extreme  upper  rivers,  and  Captain  Marsh 
remained  in  it  as  long  as  he  could  profitably  do  so. 

The  season  of  1879,  and  the  early  part  of  that  of  1880, 
were  uneventful  to  the  captain.  He  continued  on  the 
Batchelor,  plying  between  Bismarck  and  the  Yellow- 
stone. During  the  winter  of  1879  he  built  at  Sioux 
City  for  local  ferry  purposes  a  stern-wheel  boat  which 
he  named  the  Andrew  S.  Bennett,  in  honor  of  his  old 
friend,  Captain  Bennett  of  the  5th  Infantry.     This  brave 

397 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


officer  had  fallen  in  a  battle  with  the  Bannock  Indians  on 
Clark's  Fork,  Montana,  September  4,  1878,*  and  his 
death  caused  deep  sorrow  to  Captain  Marsh,  who  had 
come  to  know  him  intimately  during  their  days  together 
on  the  Yellowstone.  As  soon  as  General  Miles  learned 
of  the  captain's  action  in  naming  his  new  ferry-boat  after 
the  deceased  soldier,  he  and  the  other  officers  of  the  5th 
Infantry  engaged  an  artist  in  the  East  to  paint  a  life-size 
portrait  of  Captain  Bennett,  which  they  presented  to 
Captain  Marsh.  He  hung  it  in  the  cabin  of  the  vessel 
and,  though  the  latter  was  cut  down  and  sunk  by  the  ice 
at  Sioux  City  many  years  ago,  the  portrait  was  rescued 
and  is  still  in  the  captain's  possession. 

While  owning  the  Andrew  S.  Bennett,  Captain  Marsh 
did  not  himself  operate  her,  but  hired  a  master,  as  he  did 
for  the  ferry-boat  at  Bismarck,  which  he  had  acquired 
several  years  earlier.  He  found  it  more  profitable  to 
remain  on  the  Batchelor  himself,  where  he  could  command 
a  good  salary  during  the  open  season. 

Throughout  the  years  ending  with  1880,  the  Indians 
along  the  British  line  were  becoming  constantly  more 
troublesome.  The  scarcity  of  game  in  Canada  was  not 
only  forcing  the  followers  of  Sitting  Bull  back  into  Mon- 
tana for  subsistence,  but  was  also  driving  the  native 
Canadian  Indians,  of  the  Cree,  Blood,  Piegan,  and  other 
tribes,  to  indulge  in  similar  forays.  Such  conditions 
naturally  aroused  great  indignation  among  the  agency 
Indians  in  northern  Montana,  whose  reservations  were 
*  "The  Army  of  the  United  States." 

398 


With  Kendrick  to  the  Musselshell 

invaded,  and  the  United  States  troops  were  steadily  en- 
gaged in  pursuing  the  hostiles  and  in  fighting  dozens  of 
insignificant  engagements  which  must  ever  remain  name- 
less in  history,  though  they  brouglit  death  to  many  a  brave 
soldier.  In  this  desultory  warfare  Captain  Marsh, 
quietly  steaming  back  and  forth  along  the  Yellowstone, 
bore  no  part.  But  at  length,  late  in  the  autumn  of  1880, 
so  late,  indeed,  that  it  was  really  winter,  a  situation  arose 
in  which  the  military  authorities  were  glad  to  be  able  to 
turn  again  to  the  veteran  boatman  who  had  served  the 
army  so  well  in  the  past. 

At  such  an  inclement  time  of  year  General  Miles  was 
again  contemplating  one  of  those  hard  winter  campaigns 
against  the  marauding  Indians  from  Canada  to  which  he 
so  often  resorted.  In  order  to  have  supplies  readily 
accessible  to  his  troops  when  they  should  take  the  field,  he 
had  caused  a  depot  to  be  established  on  the  Missouri  at 
the  mouth  of  Musselshell  River.  To  this  point,  on  Oc- 
tober 30th,  he  despatched  a  party  of  twelve  soldiers, 
ten  Indian  scouts  and  an  interpreter,  under  Lieutenant 
Kislingbury,  11th  Infantry,  to  guard  the  supplies  which 
were  already  there  and  others  which  were  still  to  arrive. 

The  Lieutenant  and  his  detachment  arrived  at  their 
destination  on  November  6th.  Next  morning,  in  that 
still  hour  just  before  dawn  so  often  chosen  by  Indians 
for  their  attacks,  the  drowsy  herd-guard  suddenly  found 
itself  fighting  for  life  with  a  war  party  of  Sioux  who  rushed 
upon  them  like  phantoms.  As  the  rifle  fire  crackled  out, 
the  entire  detachment  hurried  to  the  rescue  and  after  an 

399 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


hour's  contest  the  enemy  was  driven  off,  losing  one  war- 
rior in  the  encounter.  On  their  part,  the  assailants  killed 
one  horse  of  the  herd  and  wounded  three.*  The  Indians 
drew  off  but  remained  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  keeping 
a  close  watch  on  the  party  of  soldiers  and  evidently  in- 
tending to  secure  reenforcements  and  return  to  the  attack. 
According  to  Lieutenant  Kislingbury's  report,  it  was  a 
perilous  predicament  in  which  he  found  himself,  for  unless 
assistance  could  reach  him  before  the  attacking  force  was 
increased,  his  entire  command  was  in  danger  of  destruction. 
Captain  Marsh  in  the  meantime,  knowing  nothing  of 
the  events  going  forward  at  the  Musselshell,  had  come  up 
to  Fort  Buford  on  the  F.  Y.  Batchelor  with  a  cargo  from 
Bismarck,  expecting  that  it  would  be  his  last  trip  for  the 
season  and  anxious  that  it  should  be.  On  the  morning  of 
the  4th  of  November  he  was  unloading  the  last  of  his  con- 
signment of  goods  preparatory  to  leaving  when  Captain 
Woodruff,  the  Commissary  of  Subsistence  at  Fort  Buford, 
came  on  board  and  inquired  how  much  he  would  charge 
to  carry  a  cargo  of  supplies  to  the  depot  at  the  Musselshell. 
Captain  Marsh  was  surprised  at  the  question,  for  the 
distance  was  318  miles,  the  river  was  very  low  and  the 
season  so  late  that  any  boat  which  undertook  the  trip 
would  almost  certainly  be  frozen  in  before  she  could 
return  to  Fort  Buford,  if,  indeed,  the  ice  did  not  prevent 
her  even  reaching  the  Musselshell.  He  was  reluctant  to 
accept  the  work  at  any  price,  but  finally  stated  that  he 
would  go  for  $350  per  day. 

*  Annual  Report  of  General  Terry,  1880-81. 

400 


With  Kendrick  to  the  Musselshell 

Captain  Woodruff  was  a  good  friend  of  Captain  Marsh, 
for  he  it  was  who  had  commanded  the  artillery  in  Major 
Moore's  fight  with  the  Indians  at  the  mouth  of  Powder 
River.  He  was  evidently  desirous  that  Captain  Marsh 
should  take  the  supplies  to  the  Musselshell,  but  one 
obstacle  stood  in  the  way.  It  happened  that,  beside  the 
Batchelor,  another  boat  was  still  lying  at  the  Fort  Buford 
levee,  the  General  Terry,  a  vessel  built  after  the  model  of 
the  Batchelor  and  similar  to  her  in  all  respects.  Wood- 
ruff quietly  informed  Marsh  that  Captain  Sims,  of  the 
General  Terry,  was  anxious  to  secure  the  work  at  $160 
per  day. 

Captain  Marsh  shrugged  his  shoulders  at  the  informa- 
tion. 

"Very  well,"  he  replied.  "If  Captain  Sims  wants 
to  do  it  for  that  price  he  is  welcome  to,  and  you  had 
better  accept.  I  don't  want  to  go,  anyway,  and  I  can't 
safely  undertake  it  for  less  than  the  price  I  named." 

"Well,  I  will  telegraph  General  Terry  at  St.  Paul  and 
ask  him  for  instructions,"  said  the  army  officer,  as  he  left 
the  boat. 

A  few  hours  later  he  returned  with  a  telegram  from 
the  General.  The  purport  of  the  message  was  that 
there  was  a  great  difference  in  the  prices  asked  by  the 
two  steamboat  masters,  but  "the  interests  of  the  Gov- 
ernment" demanded  that  the  F.  Y.  Batchelor  should 
make  the  trip  to  the  Musselshell.  Captain  Marsh  con- 
sequently set  to  work  loading  the  supplies  which  were 
to  be  carried  up,  the  cargo  consisting  chiefly  of  oats.     It 

401 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


did  not  take  long  to  ship  them  and  as  soon  as  they  were 
arranged  Lieut.  Frederick  M.  H.  Kendrick,  7th  Infantry, 
came  on  board  and  assumed  mihtary  command  and  the 
Batchelor  cast  off  her  Unes  and  started. 

The  voyage  proved  no  less  arduous  than  had  been  an- 
ticipated. Owing  to  the  condition  of  the  river  the  spars 
had  frequently  to  be  resorted  to.  Yet,  considering  the 
difficulties  encountered,  good  time  was  made  and  on 
November  12th  the  boat  arrived  a  short  distance  below 
the  Musselshell,  where  she  stuck  on  a  bar.  Of  the  events 
immediately  following.  Major,  formerly  Lieutenant  Kend- 
rick, speaks  as  follows:* 

"Early  on  the  morning  of  the  day  we  reached  the  Mussel- 
shell, and  while  sparring  over  a  bar,  a  mounted  soldier  from 
Lieut.  Kislingbury's  command  hailed  us  from  the  bank.  We 
took  him  on  board,  when  he  informed  us  that  the  night  beforef 
Lieut.  Kislingbury's  guard  over  his  stock  had  been  fired  into 
by  Indians,  that  his  command  turned  out  and  drove  them  off, 
and  that  Fort  Keogh  being  easier  to  communicate  with,  Lieut. 
K.  had  sent  a  courier  to  that  post  with  his  report.  We  reached 
Musselshell  early  in  the  forenoon,  unloaded,  and  pulled  out  that 
afternoon,  fearing  that  as  it  was  late  in  the  season  we  might  get 
frozen  in  before  reaching  Buford.  From  Lieut.  K.'s  conversa- 
tion with  me  while  unloading,  I  concluded  that  the  attack  came 
from  a  hunting  party  of  Yanktonais  returning  to  their  reserva- 
tion. We  passed  a  party  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river 
just  before  reaching  the  Musselshell.  I  thought  their  object 
was  to  cut  out  his  herd,  but,  being  discovered,  they  fired  a  few 
shots"  (and  retired?). 

*  In  a  letter  to  the  author. 

t  The  attack  had  taken  place  on  the  morning  of  November  7th,  aa 
previously  noted. — J.  M.  H. 

402 


With  Kendrick  to  the  Musselshell 

Lieutenant  Kislingbury  and  his  men  were  glad  to  see 
the  Batchelor,  but  the  latter  made  haste  to  depart  as  soon 
as  her  cargo  of  grain,  so  indispensable  to  the  success 
of  General  Miles'  operations,  had  been  put  ashore.  It 
did  not  appear  that  the  presence  of  the  steamer's  crew 
was  necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  depot  guard.  As 
stated  by  Major  Kendrick,  Lieutenant  Kislingbury  had 
already  sent  to  Fort  Keogh  for  assistance,  and  on  Novem- 
ber 12th,  the  same  day  the  boat  reached  the  Musselshell, 
Troops  B  and  E,  2nd  Cavalry,  and  Company  H,  5th  In- 
fantry, left  Keogh  for  that  point,  reaching  their  destina- 
tion on  the  19th.  The  Indians,  probably  aware  that  help 
was  coming  to  the  besieged,  did  not  press  their  attack, 
though  they  remained  in  the  neighborhood  until  the  re- 
enforcements  appeared. 

Before  the  Batchelor  left  the  depot,  Lieutenant  Kisling- 
bury presented  to  Captain  Marsh  the  scalp  of  the  Indian 
who  had  been  killed  in  the  skirmish  a  few  days  before; 
surely  a  sufficiently  ghastly  and  realistic  memento  of  the 
occasion.  The  captain  retained  it  for  some  time  and 
then,  in  turn,  gave  it  to  one  of  his  friends. 

Though  Lieutenant  Kislingbury  came  scathless  through 
this  characteristic  bit  of  frontier  campaigning,  he  was 
destined  soon  to  lose  his  life  under  most  unusual  and 
distressing  circumstances.  In  the  following  spring,  1881, 
he  volunteered  for  service  with  the  ill-fated  expedition  into 
the  Arctic  regions  which  was  conducted  by  Lieutenant 
A.  W.  Greeley,  5th  Cavalry,  now  Major-General  Greeley, 
retired.     The  party  was  in  the  Arctic  for  nearly  three  years. 

403 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


Toward  the  end  of  that  period  their  supphes  gave  out  and 
a  majority  of  them  perished  miserably  of  starvation  before 
relief  came.  Lieutenant  Kislingbury's  robust  physique 
enabled  him  to  survive  until  almost  the  end,  but  he  at  last 
succumbed,  dying  on  June  1, 1884,  only  three  weeks  before 
the  steamers  Bear  and  Thetis,  under  Capt.  Winfield  S. 
Schley,  U.  S.  N.,  rescued  Lieutenant  Greeley  and  the  few 
remaining  members  of  his  party. 

During  the  13th,  14th  and  15th,  the  weather  remained 
fine  and  the  Batchelor,  fleeing  through  the  shallow  bends 
with  speed  accelerated  by  the  fear  of  coming  winter, 
made  good  progress.  But  on  the  next  day  it  began  to 
snow  and  blow,  and  it  soon  became  evident  that  the 
steamer's  course  was  run  and  that  she  must  yield  to  the 
inevitable.     Major  Kendrick  says:* 

"I  think  it  was  the  next  morning,  or  the  morning  of  the  second 
day  of  our  return,  that  slush  ice  began  to  form,  and  by  noon  our 
wheel  was  a  solid  mass  of  ice  and  we  were  at  the  mercy  of  the 
current.  When  we  had  drifted  to  a  favorable  looking  place  we 
tied  up  for  the  winter.  The  next  morning,  the  ice  being  solid, 
I  sent  several  of  the  crewf  across  to  go  to  the  nearest  point  where 
they  could  communicate  with  Buford  and  inform  the  C(om- 
manding)  O(fficers)  that  we  were  frozen  in. 

While  these  men  were  absent  we  built  a  log  cabin  for  winter 
quarters  for  such  of  the  crew  as  Grant  Marsh  might  decide  were 
sufficient  to  care  for  the  boat  till  released  in  the  spring.  We 
stocked  the  cabin  with  stores  from  the  boat.  Captain  Grant 
Marsh,  myself,  and  such  of  the  crew  as  was  not  required  then 
left  by  transportation  sent  from  Buford." 

*  In  the  letter  to  the  author  previously  quoted. 

t  Captain  Marsh  states  that  two  Fort  Berthold  Indian  scouts  who 
were  on  board  carried  the  message. — J.  M.  H. 

404 


With  Kendrick  to  the  Musselshell 


The  point  at  which  the  Batchelor  became  imprisoned 
in  the  ice  was  near  the  mouth  of  Milk  River,  the  upper 
boundary  of  the  Fort  Peck  Indian  Reservation,  and  138 
miles  below  the  Musselshell.  The  cabin  built  on  the 
bank,  which  was  sonorously  termed  a  "fort,"  was  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  fact  that  the  lightly-built  cabin 
of  the  boat  could  not  be  made  habitable  for  the  crew 
during  the  extremely  cold  winter  weather  of  that  region. 
All  portable  property  was  taken  from  the  steamer  and 
placed  in  the  cabin,  the  Batchelor  herself  being  tempo- 
rarily abandoned.  Captain  Marsh  placed  his  stout- 
hearted and  level-headed  engineer,  George  Foulk,  in 
command  of  the  ten  men  of  the  crew  who  were  left  as 
guards.  They  were  plentifully  supplied  with  food, 
weapons  and  ammunition,  but  when  Kendrick,  Marsh 
and  the  rest  of  the  crew  left  them  on  November  25th  and 
started  for  Fort  Buford,  it  was  a  difficult  if  not  a  dangerous 
position  in  which  the  eleven  men  found  themselves. 
They  were  marooned  in  the  midst  of  a  howling  wilder- 
ness, with  no  possibility  of  getting  out  for  many  months ; 
a  wilderness  whose  only  human  occupants  were  Indians 
from  Sitting  Bull's  camps,  ferocious  with  want  and  bitter  in 
hatred  of  the  white  men.  No  one  could  tell  at  what  hour 
of  the  day  or  night  some  of  these  enemies  might  pounce 
upon  the  lonely  cabin  on  Milk  River.  But  the  plucky 
little  garrison  survived  all  the  perils  of  Arctic  climate 
and  threatening  foes,  and  springtime  found  them  still 
at  their  post,  unharmed. 


405 


CHAPTER  XLVII 

THE   SIOUX   BEND   TO   FATE 

Exhausted,  famished,  frozen,  desperate. 
By  single  cainps,  by  parties,  bands  and  tribes, 
Uncpapas,  OgalaUas,  North  Cheyennes, 
Sans  Arcs  and  Minneconjoux,  one  by  one 
Subjection  yielded  to  the  tireless  foe. 

CAPTAIN  MARSH  and  his  companions  made  their 
way  down  the  Missouri  as  best  they  could,  suf- 
fering not  a  Httle  from  the  cold,  and  in  a  few  days 
they  reached  Poplar  River,  where  the  agency  of  the  Fort 
Peck  Reservation  was  located.  At  the  time  of  their 
arrival  trouble  of  a  serious  nature  was  brewing  here  with 
some  of  the  Sitting  Bull  Indians,  which,  in  a  few  weeks, 
was  to  culminate  in  bloodshed.  Strangely  enough,  the 
crisis  had  been  produced  by  the  efforts  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  bring  about  peace. 

During  the  previous  summer,  Mr.  E.  H.  Allison,  post 
interpreter  at  Fort  Buford,  a  man  possessing  great  in- 
fluence among  the  Indians,  had  been  authorized  by 
General  Terry  to  visit  the  camps  of  Sitting  Bull  in  Canada 
with  the  object  of  inducing  that  chief  to  come  in  with 
his  followers  and  settle  down  on  the  reservations  assigned 
to  them.  Suffering  severely  from  lack  of  food  and  cloth- 
ing  and   harassed   whenever   they   ventured    across   the 

406 


The  Sioux  Bend  to  Fate 


Line  by  General  Miles  and  the  other  indefatigable  guard- 
ians of  the  border,  the  remnant  of  irreconcilables  had 
very  nearly  reached  the  limit  of  endurance.  As  a  result 
of  Mr.  Allison's  assurances  that  if  they  would  surrender 
their  previous  misconduct  would  be  forgiven  and  their 
necessities  relieved  by  the  Government,  numbers  of  them 
soon  began  coming  in  at  Poplar  River  Agency. 

At  first  their  conduct  was  peaceable,  but  after  their 
hunger  had  been  appeased  their  confidence  in  themselves 
was  restored,  especially  as  their  numbers  were  constantly 
being  increased  by  new  arrivals  from  Canada.  They  grew 
arrogant  and  began  thinking  more  of  plundering  the 
Agency  and  escaping  once  more  to  the  north  than  they 
did  of  surrendering.  The  agent,  Mr.  Porter,  becoming 
alarmed,  appealed  for  troops  and  two  companies  of  the 
11th  Infantry,  under  Capt.  O.  B.  Read,  were  despatched 
to  his  assistance. 

It  was  at  about  this  time  that  Captain  Marsh  and  his 
companions  from  the  Batchelor  reached  the  scene.  The 
appearance  of  Captain  Read's  troops  had  not  at  all  over- 
awed the  Indians  assembled  about  the  Agency,  who  were 
still  in  such  superior  numbers  that  it  had  tended  rather  to 
increase  than  to  diminish  their  arrogance.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  Captain  Marsh's  arrival,  he  and  his  party  spent 
some  time  at  the  post  trader's  store  of  Leighton  and 
Jordan,  the  principal  "loafing  place"  of  the  Agency. 
A  crowd  of  the  hostile  Indians  were  in  the  store,  trading, 
and  they  were  conducting  themselves  in  so  overbearing 
a  manner  that  the  clerks  waiting  upon  them  could  not 

407 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


conceal  their  uneasiness.  Presently  one  of  the  latter 
brought  out  a  pouch  full  of  mail  which  was  to  go  to  Fort 
Buford  under  escort.  The  clerk  ran  a  leather  strap 
through  the  iron  staples  at  its  top,  locked  it  and  set  it 
down  by  the  front  door.  The  Indians  had  been  watching 
him  intently  and  after  he  had  finished,  one  of  them  stepped 
over  to  the  pouch,  set  it  up  on  end  and,  whipping  out  his 
knife,  made  motions  as  if  cutting  the  pouch  in  two,  con- 
temptuously indicating  that  the  staples  and  strap  were 
"no  good."  His  companions  assented  with  a  chorus  of 
hearty  "hows,"  looking  around  defiantly  at  the  white 
men  in  the  store  to  see  whether  any  would  dare  offer 
objections.  Had  any  one  done  so  there  would  undoubt- 
edly have  been  a  fight  at  once,  but  the  clerks  were  wise 
enough  to  keep  still  and  the  mail-sack  was  not  damaged. 
Captain  Marsh  and  his  men  left  next  day  for  Buford, 
and  took  part  in  none  of  the  subsequent  trouble  with  the 
Indians. 

But  a  few  days  after  their  departure,  another  appeal  for 
reenforcements  was  sent  from  Poplar  River  to  Fort  Keogh, 
for  the  Indians  were  increasing  so  rapidly  in  numbers 
that  Captain  Read's  detachment  was  not  sufficient  to 
cope  with  them.  Though  the  wily  Sitting  Bull  remained 
out  on  Milk  River,  in  uncomfortable  proximity  to  Engi- 
neer Foulk's  "fort,"  awaiting  the  result  of  events  at  the 
Agency,  Gall,  The  Crow,  and  other  noted  chieftains  of 
his  following  had  come  in  and  were  directing  the  action 
of  the  Indians.  In  response  to  the  second  call  for  help, 
Major  Guido  Ilges  with  five  companies  of  the  5th  Infantry 

408 


The  Sioux  Bend  to  Fate 


from  Fort  Keogh  and  two  troops  of  the  7th  Cavalry  from 
Fort  Custer,  was  despatched  to  Poplar  River.  The  over- 
land march  of  the  troops,  lasting  nine  days,  was  made 
through  deep  snows,  in  a  temperature  ranging  from  ten 
to  thirty-five  degrees  below  zero,  and  was  attended  with 
much  suffering.  On  his  arrival  at  the  Agency,  Major 
Ilges  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  Indians,  but  after 
several  days  had  been  devoted  to  fruitless  "talks,"  The 
Crow,  on  the  evening  of  January  2nd,  1881,  put  an  abrupt 
period  to  the  hope  of  a  peaceful  settlement  by  delivering 
the  following  remarkable  ultimatum  to  Major  Ilges: 

"I  and  my  people  will  not  move  until  spring.  I  am  tired  of 
talking  with  you.  The  soldiers  are  cowards  and  afraid  to  fight. 
They  cry  in  winter  and  cannot  handle  a  gun.  If  you  attempt 
to  interfere  with  my  people  there  will  be  trouble.  I  am  ready 
to  fight  if  you  want  fight."  * 

At  the  same  time,  The  Crow  sent  word  to  the  employees 
at  Leighton  and  Jordan's  store  that  if  they  wanted  to  save 
their  lives  they  must  escape  at  once,  as  he  intended  to 
attack  and  kill  all  the  soldiers.  "You  people  have  been 
kind  to  me  in  the  past,"  he  said,  "and  I  do  not  want  to 
hurt  you.  To-morrow  we  will  fight  and  wipe  out  the 
soldiers  and  kill  everybody  at  the  soldier  camp." 

Major  Ilges  was  quite  ready  to  accept  The  Crow's  chal- 
lenge. Next  morning,  long  before  daylight,  he  marched 
out  with  his  troops  and  several  pieces  of  artillery  and  sur- 
rounded the  main  Indian  camp  in  a  timber  point  about 
two  miles  below  the  Agency.  After  a  desultory  fight 
*  Official  Report  of  Major  Guide  Ilges,  5th  Infantry. 

409 


The  Conquest  oj  the  Missouri 


lasting  several  hours,  during  which  considerable  loss  was 
inflicted  on  the  hostiles,  the  greater  part  of  the  latter, 
some  three  hundred  in  number,  were  driven  to  the  Agency, 
where  they  surrendered  at  discretion.*  A  few  escaped 
and  carried  the  news  to  Sitting  Bull,  who,  taking  the 
alarm,  fled  again  to  Canada  before  he  could  be  inter- 
cepted. But  one  of  his  principal  lieutenants.  Crow 
King,  disheartened  by  the  defeat  of  Gall  and  The  Crow, 
left  him  almost  immediately  with  three  hundred  followers, 
made  his  way  to  Poplar  River  and  surrendered,  and  soon 
after,  together  with  the  prisoners  previously  taken  there, 
was  transferred  down  river  to  the  lower  reservations. 
Sitting  Bull,  with  a  handful  of  adherents,  remained  in 
the  British  possessions  until  the  following  summer. 

On  reaching  Fort  Buford,  Captain  Marsh  remained  a 
few  days  with  Mr.  Jordan,  one  of  the  owners  of  the  F.  Y, 
Batchelor,  and  then  resumed  his  journey  to  Bismarck  in  a 
lumber  wagon.  The  weather  grew  constantly  colder 
during  the  trip,  until  the  mercury  reached  thirty-five  de- 
grees below  zero.  The  low  temperature  was  accom- 
panied by  a  stinging  wind  and  the  captain  suffered  a 
great  deal,  his  face  being  black  with  frost-bite  when  he 
arrived  at  Bismarck.  He  reached  his  home  in  Yankton 
safely,  however,  and  remained  there  during  the  rest  of 
that  winter,  which  was  one  of  the  most  bitter  ever  expe- 
rienced in  the  Northwest.  The  snows  were  so  deep  that 
not  a  train  moved  on  any  railroad  in  northern  Minne- 
sota or  Dakota  between  January  1st  and  April  1st,  1881. 
*  OflBcial  Report  of  Major  Ilges. 

410 


The  Sioux  Bend  to  Fate 


When  spring  at  last  opened,  it  came  so  suddenly  that 
great  floods  swept  the  Missouri  Valley,  doing  millions  of 
dollars  worth  of  damage  to  agricultural  interests,  bring- 
ing destitution  to  thousands  of  settlers  and  wrecking 
a  number  of  steamboats,  especially  at  Yankton,  where 
a  huge  ice-gorge  below  the  city  piled  the  levee  with  the 
wreckage  of  the  packets  which  had  been  in  winter  harbor 
there. 

None  of  Captain  Marsh's  personal  interests  suffered  in 
the  flood.  When  it  occurred,  he  had  already  started 
from  Yankton  for  Milk  River,  where  he  arrived  in  due 
season,  extricated  the  Batchelor  and  released  Engineer 
Foulk  and  his  party  from  their  unpleasant  guard  duty. 
The  captain  brought  his  boat  down  to  Fort  Buford  and 
thence  went  up  the  Yellowstone  to  Fort  Keogh  after  a 
cargo  of  furs  which  had  been  accumulated  at  Leighton 
and  Jordan's  trading-post  there.  He  then  went  to  Bis- 
marck with  his  cargo,  which  was  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able ever  carried  down  the  Missouri.  It  consisted  of 
beaver,  otter,  and  wolf  pelts  and  a  few  buffalo  hides, 
and  was  valued  at  $106,000;  a  sufiicient  proof  that  at  that 
time  game  was  still  plentiful  in  the  upper  country. 

Upon  arriving  at  Bismarck,  the  captain  found  that 
Leighton  and  Jordan  had  just  purchased  a  new  steamer, 
the  Eclipse.  She  was  placed  under  his  command  and 
he  continued  to  operate  her  during  the  season  of  1881. 
His  first  trip  with  her  was  to  Fort  Keogh,  where  he  went, 
accompanied  by  four  other  steamers,  to  bring  down  to 
the  lower  reservations  the  several  thousand  Indians  whom 

411 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


General  Miles  had  been  gathering  together  and  holding 
near  that  post  during  the  preceding  few  years.  The 
Eclipse  was  the  flag-ship  of  the  fleet,  which  consisted  of 
the  General  Terry,  Capt.  W.  H.  Sims;  the  Josephine, 
Capt.  William  Gould ;  the  Black  Hills,  Capt.  Bob  Wright, 
and  the  Batchelor,  Captain  T.  D.  Mariner,  the  latter  the 
successor  of  Captain  Marsh  on  his  old  boat. 

There  were  about  3,000  Indians  of  both  sexes  and  all 
ages  to  be  taken  down,  many  well  known  chiefs  being 
among  them,  and  the  fleet  presented  an  imposing  appear- 
ance as  it  steamed  down  the  river.  At  Bismarck  and  every 
other  town  along  the  route,  the  people  came  to  the  banks 
to  look  at  the  erstwhile  hostiles  and  congratulate  them- 
selves that  the  border  was  at  last  safe  from  their  depre- 
dations. Such  a  horde  of  Indians  had  never  before 
been  gathered  as  prisoners  on  the  decks  of  steamboats 
and  until  the  last  had  been  put  off  at  their  destination 
they  were  the  absorbing  topic  of  discussion  along  the 
river. 

In  collecting  such  a  large  body  of  hostiles  at  Fort 
Keogh,  General  Miles  had  also  come  into  possession  of 
great  quantities  of  the  Indians'  property,  which  he  held 
as  contraband  of  war.  The  most  valuable  portion  of  the 
booty  consisted  of  several  thousand  head  of  horses. 
Shortly  after  the  Eclipse  and  her  consorts  had  taken  the 
Indians  down  river,  the  captured  horses  at  Fort  Keogh 
were  sold  at  auction.  Before  the  sale,  the  officers  of  the 
5th  Infantry  at  the  post  looked  over  the  herd  and  picked 
out  the  two  finest  animals  it  contained,  a  pair  of  beautiful 

412 


The  Sioux  Bend  to  Fate 


bays,  so  equally  matched  in  color,  size  and  manners  that 
they  could  not  be  told  apart.  When  the  sale  began, 
every  officer  in  the  regiment  contributed  his  share  to  a 
sum  of  money  sufficient  to  bid  them  in.  When  the  next 
downward  bound  steamer  left  Fort  Keogh,  the  team 
was  shipped  on  her  to  Mrs.  Grant  Marsh,  at  Yankton, 
with  the  compliments  of  the  5th  Infantry.  Mrs.  Marsh 
was  deeply  affected  by  the  gift,  testifying  as  it  did  so  deli- 
cately to  the  friendship  felt  for  her  husband  by  the  officers 
of  the  array,  and  the  horses  always  remained  among  her 
most  cherished  possessions. 

During  the  summer  of  1881,  the  Eclipse  was  one  day 
steaming  away  from  the  landing  at  Fort  Berthold  when 
the  attention  of  everyone  on  board  was  attracted  by  an 
object  of  strange  appearance  floating  rapidly  down  the 
river  toward  them.  Conjecture  was  rife  for  a  few  mo- 
ments and  then,  as  the  object  drew  abreast  of  the  boat, 
the  mystery  was  explained.  It  was  Paul  Boynton,  the 
renowned  long-distance  swimmer,  on  his  way  to  St.  Louis 
from  Glendive,  where  he  had  entered  the  Yellowstone. 
He  was  swimming,  as  was  his  habit,  on  his  back,  pro- 
pelling himself  with  a  short,  two-bladed  paddle,  and 
towing  behind  him  a  little  boat  called  the  Baby  Mine, 
which  he  held  by  a  line  fastened  around  his  waist.  Oddly 
equipped  as  he  was,  his  appearance  in  the  water  was 
enough  to  arouse  the  lively  curiosity  of  any  one,  but  it  pro- 
duced a  violent  sensation  among  the  Fort  Berthold  In- 
dians. Those  who  chanced  to  be  along  the  shore  when 
he  came  into  view,  watched  him  for  a  time  as  if  fascinated, 

413 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


their  astonishment  and  alarm  growing  as  he  drew  nearer. 
At  length  they  turned  and  ran  at  top  speed  to  the  camps, 
to  summon  their  friends  and  relatives,  shouting  in  their 
native  tongues  as  they  went  that  a  beaver  with  two  tails 
was  coming  down  the  river.  Such  was  their  explanation 
of  Boynton's  two-bladed  paddle.  The  swimmer  eventu- 
ally reached  his  destination  at  St.  Louis  safely  and  since 
that  time  he  has  navigated,  by  his  peculiar  method,  many 
other  of  the  world's  great  watercourses.  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  had  he  undertaken  his  voyage  on  the  Yel- 
lowstone and  Missouri  a  few  years  earlier,  while  their 
banks  were  haunted  by  the  hostiles  of  the  Sioux,  the 
latter,  whatever  their  awe  might  have  been  for  "the 
beaver  with  two  tails,"  would  not  have  permitted  him  to 
escape  their  rifle  balls. 

In  the  spring  of  1882,  Captain  Marsh  purchased  on 
his  own  account  the  packet  W.  J.  Behan,  the  last  upper 
Missouri  River  boat  with  which  he  was  to  be  identified 
for  many  years,  for  the  river  trade  in  that  region  was 
rapidly  declining  and  steamboat  men  were  finding  it 
necessary  to  seek  occupation  elsewhere.  WTiile  operat- 
ing the  Behan,  the  captain  had  an  opportunity  of  meeting 
that  last  pillar  of  uncompromising  Sioux  hostility,  Sitting 
Bull,  under  circumstances  better  calculated  to  make  the 
acquaintance  pleasurable,  from  a  white  man's  standpoint, 
than  any  which  could  possibly  have  arisen  during  the 
fifteen  preceding  years,  while  the  name  of  the  famous 
chieftain  was  a  terror  along  the  border.  As  has  been 
previously  stated.  Sitting  Bull  held  out  in  Canada  until 

414 


The  Sioux  Bend  to  Fate 


the  summer  of  1881,  when,  being  in  the  last  stages  of 
destitution,  and  without  the  sHghtest  hope  of  rehef  or  re- 
enforcement,  he  came  down  to  Fort  Buford  on  July  19th 
and  gave  himself  up,  together  with  187  men,  women 
and  children,  all  there  were  left  of  the  non-treaty  faction 
of  the  Sioux  Nation.  He  and  his  followers  were  conveyed 
to  Fort  Yates,  on  the  Standing  Rock  Reservation,  where 
they  were  held  as  prisoners  of  war  for  a  short  time  and 
then  taken  on  to  Fort  Randall.  Here  they  remained 
through  the  winter  and  in  the  spring  of  1882  it  was  de- 
cided to  take  them  back  to  Standing  Rock  and  settle  them 
permanently  there. 

Captain  Marsh  was  called  upon  to  take  the  Indians 
to  Fort  Yates  and  the  W.  J.  Behan  was  chartered  by  the 
Government  to  convey  the  much-traveled  Sioux  to  their 
final  location.  The  boat  left  Sioux  City  early  in  the  spring 
and  upon  arriving  at  Fort  Randall,  took  on  board  171 
Indians.  Among  them  all,  the  ones  who  naturally  at- 
tracted the  most  notice  were  Sitting  Bull  himself  and  his 
family,  the  latter  consisting  of  two  wives  and  a  number 
of  children.  It  was  not  uncommon  among  the  "heathen  *' 
Indians  for  a  man  of  consequence  to  have  more  than  one 
wife. 

Sitting  Bull  had  been  made  the  object  of  much  atten- 
tion during  his  winter's  sojourn  at  Fort  Randall.  This 
had  not  tended  to  diminish  his  already  abundant  supply 
of  self-esteem  and  during  the  northward  voyage  he  gave 
himself  the  airs  of  royalty.  The  missionary  priests  in 
Canada  had  taught  him  to  write  his  name  and  from  the 

415 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


soldiers  at  Fort  Randall  he  had  learned  the  value  of 
money.  As  the  Behan  steamed  up  the  river,  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  country  for  miles  around  flocked  to  the 
landing-places  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  renowned  medi- 
cine-man and  hundreds  of  them  were  eager  to  secure  his 
autograph.  He  was  perfectly  willing  to  write  it  any 
number  of  times,  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar  per  signature, 
and  as  nearly  everyone  was  glad  to  get  it  for  any  price, 
he  soon  had  more  money  than  he  knew  what  to  do  with. 
He  wrote  the  name  "Seitting  Bull,"  but  the  peculiar 
spelling  only  added  to  its  value  as  a  curiosity. 

At  Chamberlain  and  Pierre  the  people  came  to  the  boat 
in  such  numbers  that  the  escort,  consisting  of  one  com- 
pany of  the  15th  Infantry,  under  Lieut.  T.  F.  Davis, 
had  difficulty  in  keeping  the  crowds  in  order.  When 
Cheyenne  River  Agency  was  reached,  a  half-breed  living 
there,  by  the  name  of  Frank  Chadron,  presented  Captain 
Marsh  with  a  handsomely  carved  pipestem.  The  cap- 
tain showed  it  to  Sitting  Bull  and  the  latter  took  a  fancy 
to  it.  Through  the  interpreter  on  board,  Charles  F. 
Picotte,  a  well-known  and  much  respected  character  of 
the  frontier.  Sitting  Bull  told  Captain  Marsh  that  he 
wanted  to  buy  the  pipestem.  As  it  had  been  a  gift  the 
captain  did  not  wish  to  part  with  it,  but  the  chief 
was  so  persistent  that  at  last  the  captain  said,  jok- 
ingly, that  he  could  have  it  for  fifty  dollars.  Sitting 
Bull  indignantly  grunted  that  fifty  dollars  was  too 
much  money. 

"Well,"  replied  the  captain,  addressing  the  inter- 
416 


The  Sioux  Bend  to  Fate 


preter,  "tell  him  he  has  kept  me  scared  for  twenty  years 
along  the  river  and  he  ought  to  give  me  something  for 
that." 

"I  did  not  come  on  your  land  to  scare  you,"  retorted 
Sitting  Bull,  with  dignity.  "  If  you  had  not  come  on  my 
land,  you  would  not  have  been  scared,  either." 

The  reply  was  so  convincing  that  Captain  Marsh  made 
no  attempt  to  pursue  the  argument  further,  though  the 
chief  did  not  get  the  pipestem. 

While  not  applying  particularly  to  Sitting  Bull,  Captain 
Marsh  noticed  an  amusing  peculiarity  of  the  wild  Indians 
during  this  trip  and  the  voyage  of  the  preceding  summer 
from  Fort  Keogh;  a  peculiarity  which  few  white  people 
have  probably  had  occasion  to  notice.  For  some  reason 
they  were  unable  to  walk  up  a  stairway.  Invariably  when 
they  tried  to  do  so  they-  would  stumble  and  fall,  making 
ludicrous  attempts  to  right  themselves.  But  they  could 
only  reach  the  top  finally  by  going  on  their  hands  and 
knees  and  crawling  up. 

After  reaching  his  new  dwelling  place,  which  was  not  far 
from  the  spot  where  he  had  been  born,  forty-three  years 
before,*  Sitting  Bull  settled  down  quietly  and  caused 
no  further  trouble  until  the  beginning  of  the  Messiah 
Craze,  in  1890,  when  he  threw  his  influence  with  the 
ghost  dancers.  On  December  15th,  1890,  he  was  killed 
by  Indian  police,  men  of  his  own  blood,  while  resisting 
arrest  at  his  home.  Students  of  Indian  history  generally 
do  not  rate  Sitting  Bull  very  high,  either  as  a  soldier  or  as 
♦"History  of  the  Sioux  Indians,"  Doane  Robinson. 

417 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


a  statesman.  But  certain  it  is  that,  whatever  his  defi- 
ciencies, he  succeeded  in  holding  for  himself  throughout 
his  Ufe  a  position  of  great  prominence  among  his  people. 
His  name  will  doubtless  be  a  familiar  one  in  American 
annals  long  after  those  of  most  of  the  other  men  who 
fought  on  the  Northwestern  frontier,  both  white  and  red, 
are  forgotten,  save  by  the  historian. 

With  Sitting  Bull's  surrender  had  come,  at  last,  a  final 
conclusion  to  the  long  series  of  wars,  which,  beginning 
with  the  Minnesota  outbreak  in  1862,  had  lasted,  almost 
without  interruption,  for  nineteen  years.  The  conflict 
for  the  subjugation  of  the  Sioux  was  the  most  extensive, 
the  most  sanguinary  and  the  most  costly  war  ever  fought 
with  the  aborigines  of  the  North  American  continent. 
During  its  course,  hundreds  of  gallant  soldiers  and  thou- 
sands of  brave  warriors  laid  down  their  lives  in  the  name 
of  a  patriotism  whose  purity  could  be  as  truly  claimed  by 
one  as  by  the  other,  for  the  contest  was  between  two  utterly 
diverse  modes  of  existence,  one  of  which  had  inevitably 
to  be  blotted  out  in  order  that  the  other  might  live.  When 
it  began,  the  vast  region  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains  was  the  undisputed  empire  of  the  Sioux 
Nation;  when  it  ended,  nothing  of  that  empire  remained  to 
the  Sioux  save  the  comparatively  insignificant  patches 
of  ground  which  the  United  States  government  had 
elected  should  be  theirs.  A  proud,  a  patriotic  and  a 
fearless  people,  they  had  fought  with  desperate  valor  for 
all  the  human  heart  holds  most  dear,  freedom  and  home 
and  native  land,  pitting  the  naked  breast  and  the  un- 

418 


The  Sioux  Bend  to  Fate 


tutored  mind  of  savagery  against  the  relentless  skill  of 
civilization. 

The  Baron  de  Jomini  has  truly  said:  "National  wars 
are  the  most  formidable  of  all.  This  name  can  only  be 
applied  to  such  as  are  waged  against  a  united  people,  or 
a  great  majority  of  them,  filled  with  a  noble  ardor  and 
determined  to  sustain  their  independence;  then  every 
step  is  disputed,  the  army  holds  only  its  camp-ground, 
its  supplies  can  only  be  obtained  at  the  point  of  the  sword, 
and  its  convoys  are  everywhere  threatened  or  captured." 

If  the  above  definition  was  not  applicable  to  the  Sioux 
war,  it  never  was  applicable  to  any  war.  For,  whatever, 
may  be  said  of  the  Sioux  for  their  failure  to  observe  "  the 
humanities  of  warfare,"  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they 
were  fighting  for  their  unquestionable  moral  rights.  They 
were  vanquished,  but  the  example  which  they  set  should 
be  an  inspiration  in  love  of  country  to  future  generations 
of  Americans  if  ever  they  should  be  called  upon  to  defend 
against  foreign  invasion  the  lands  won  from  the  Indians. 
The  memory  of  the  fiery  Sioux,  when  all  is  said,  is  an 
honor  to  the  wide,  wild  prairies  that  bore  them. 


419 


CHAPTER  XLVni 

TURNED   TURTLE 

Pilot  yelled  through  the  speakin'  tube, 
"  Can  you  keep  the  paddles  gain'  while  I  make  a  landin\  Jackf^ 

A  FTER  having  safely  landed  Sitting  Bull  at  Fort 
/-\  Yates,  Captain  Marsh  went  on  to  Bismarck, 
where  he  unexpectedly  found  two  men  who 
were  anxious  to  purchase  his  vessel  at  a  good  profit  to  him- 
self. He  made  a  bargain  with  them  and  then  returned  to 
Yankton,  where  he  broke  up  his  home  and  removed  with 
his  family  to  Memphis,  Tennessee.  His  children,  two 
sons  and  three  daughters,  had  grown  up  in  Yankton; 
the  sons,  John  and  Grant  C,  completing  their  education 
in  the  schools  of  that  city.  The  captain  was  loath  to 
leave  the  town  where  he  had  resided  for  so  many  years, 
but  he  foresaw  better  business  opportunities  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  availed  himself  of  them. 

Though  the  lower  river  trade  had  diminished  until  its 
importance  was  insignificant  compared  with  earlier  years, 
at  the  same  time  so  many  steamboat  men  had  left  it  for 
other  fields  of  enterprise  that  there  was  still  employment 
for  the  few  good  men  who  clung  to  the  life.  Several 
private  companies  were  engaged  in  freight  and  passenger 

420 


Turned  Turtle 


business  on  the  Mississippi,  while  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment kept  a  number  of  steamboats  constantly  employed 
in  river  improvement  work.  So  for  the  next  twenty-one 
years  Captain  Marsh  found  a  satisfactory  means  of  liveli- 
hood on  the  Father  of  Waters. 

During  1884  and  1885,  he  operated  the  ferry-boat 
P.  H.  Kelley  at  Memphis.  The  next  season  he  bought 
an  interest  in  the  tow-boat,  R.  A.  Speed,  and  for  the 
following  four  years  acted  as  master  of  this  vessel,  towing 
lumber  barges  to  St.  Louis  from  Cairo,  Illinois,  and  below. 
In  1890,  Mr.  T.  T.  Lewis,  of  the  Eagle  Packet  Company 
of  St.  Louis,  secured  his  services  and  the  captain  remained 
in  his  employment  until  1896,  commanding  at  different 
times  the  Cairo  and  St.  Louis  tow-boats  Jennie  Gilchrist, 
Charlotte  Brincker,  Little  Eagle  No.  2,  Jack  Frost  and 
Polar  Wave.  In  1896,  he  went  on  the  Pittsburg  steamer 
Harry  Broivn,  towing  coal  from  Louisville  to  New  Orleans. 

Well  and  favorably  known  to  the  army  as  Captain 
Marsh  was,  the  engineers  in  charge  of  the  extensive 
National  works  along  the  river  for  the  improvement  of 
the  channel  and  the  protection  of  the  banks,  had  long 
been  anxious  to  obtain  his  services.  After  he  had  been 
in  the  tow-boat  business  for  seven  years,  the  opportunity 
came  and  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the  United  States 
steamer  Mississippi,  the  vessel  which  was  used  by  the 
Mississippi  River  Commission  for  their  tours  of  inspec- 
tion along  the  stream  from  St.  Paul  to  the  Head  of  the 
Passes,  below  New^  Orleans.  For  three  years  the  captain 
remained  with  the  Government,  then,  receiving  an  at- 


421 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


tractive  offer  from  Captain  James  Rees,  of  Memphis,  in 
1900  he  assumed  charge  of  the  Memphis  and  Arkansas 
City  mail  packet,  Kate  Adams.  This  vessel  was  the 
fastest  and  best  equipped  on  the  river.  Her  hull  was 
built  of  steel,  which  afforded  her  protection  against  those 
constant  menaces  to  steamboats — snags.  While  Captain 
Marsh  was  in  command  of  the  Kate  Adams,  he  was 
accustomed  to  run  her  an  average  of  1,000  miles  per 
week,  three  days  and  three  nights  of  that  time  being  spent 
in  port.  In  1902,  he  left  the  employment  of  Captain  Rees 
to  again  enter  that  of  the  Government,  this  time  as  master 
of  the  Missouri  River  snag-boat  Choctaw. 

While  the  captain's  life  during  all  these  years  would 
have  been  most  interesting  if  entered  into  by  one  unfamil- 
iar with  the  river  and  its  ways,  it  contained  but  few  inci- 
dents of  as  stirring  a  nature  as  had  his  earlier  career  on 
the  upper  Missouri,  and  a  recital  of  its  material  facts 
would  be  more  fitting  for  a  government  report  or  a  trade 
journal  than  for  a  chronicle  of  personal  adventure  and 
historical  incident.  One  of  his  experiences  during  this 
period,  however,  by  reason  of  its  almost  incredible  nature, 
is  worthy  of  mention. 

During  the  summer  of  1894,  while  he  was  in  the  em- 
plo}'Tnent  of  ]\Ir.  Lewis,  the  captain  had  the  steamer 
Little  Eagle,  No.  2.  As  usual,  she  was  towing  lumber 
barges  from  points  below  Cairo  to  St.  Louis.  On  the 
morning  of  September  17th,  a  day  when  the  sky  was 
cloudy  above  and  the  river  oily  beneath,  the  Little  Eagle 
swung  out  from  the  St.  Louis  levee  for  a  daylight  run 

422 


Turned   Turtle 


down  river.  She  was  pushing  one  large  barge  ahead, 
neither  barge  nor  steamer  carrying  any  cargo.  At  about 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  some  seventy  miles 
below  St.  Louis  and  just  above  the  point  where  the  Okaw 
River  comes  in  on  the  Illinois  side,  the  captain,  who  was 
in  the  pilot-house,  steering,  glanced  to  starboard.  The 
air  was  perfectly  still,  oppressively  so,  and  in  the  western 
sky  he  noticed  an  ominous  cloud  rapidly  gathering. 
His  practiced  eye  instantly  comprehended  that  it  was  a 
cyclone.  Turning  to  the  speaking-tube,  he  shouted  down 
to  Charlie  DeWitt,  the  engineer  on  duty,  that  a  bad  storm 
was  coming  but  he  would  try  to  make  a  landing  before 
the  boat  should  be  struck. 

But  in  less  than  thirty  seconds  the  storm  was  upon 
them.  Under  the  terrific  force  of  the  wind  the  Little 
Eagle  began  to  careen.  Captain  Marsh,  standing  by  the 
w^heel,  again  shouted  to  DeWitt  for  all  hands  to  run  for 
the  barge.  The  men  obeyed,  but  none  too  soon,  for  they 
had  scarcely  reached  it  when  the  capsizing  steamer  ca- 
reened so  far  that  the  boilers  broke  loose  from  their 
fastenings  and  slid  off  into  the  river.  The  instant  they 
struck  the  water,  they  exploded  with  tremendous  force, 
shattering  the  forward  hull  and  deck  and  tearing  loose 
the  hawsers  which  held  the  barge  to  the  steamer. 

The  captain,  still  in  the  pilot-house,  was  now  cut  off 
from  the  barge  and  his  only  hope  for  life  was  to  get  aft 
and  there  seek  some  means  of  escape.  Fortunately  the 
furious  wind  had  driven  the  scalding  steam  and  the  flying 
wreckage  of  the  exploded  boilers  away  from  him,  so  that 

423 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


he  was  not  injured.  He  climbed  through  the  pilot-house 
window  and,  as  the  boat  continued  to  careen,  scrambled 
upward  toward  the  highest  point  until  in  a  moment  the 
hull  was  on  edge,  with  the  captain  clinging  to  the  up- 
turned side.  A  second  later,  with  a  great  splash,  the 
Little  Eagle  "turned  turtle"  completely,  and  the  cap- 
tain walked  out  on  her  flat  bottom,  dry-shod  and  un- 
harmed. 

The  barge  with  the  crew  on  board  was  drifting  off 
downstream  and  presently  the  wind  drove  it  into  the 
bank  at  Fort  Gage,  just  above  Chester,  111,,  where  all 
hands  landed  safely.  The  Little  Eagle,  with  her  single 
passenger,  floated  down  river  for  some  distance,  then 
some  of  her  submerged  upper  works  caught  in  the  bottom 
and  she  grounded  in  the  channel.  The  short-lived 
"twister"  had  now  passed,  and  presently  the  tow-boat 
Sidney  Dillon,  Captain  Nick  Beaver,  hove  in  sight,  down- 
ward bound.  She  rescued  Captain  Marsh  from  his  im- 
provised raft  and  landed  him  at  Chester,  where  he  rejoined 
his  crew. 

All  of  the  captain's  possessions  on  board  the  Little 
Eagle,  as  well  as  those  of  his  men,  were,  of  course,  lost, 
and  the  captain  was  even  obliged  to  borrow  money  from 
John  and  Bill  Rollins,  the  pilots  of  the  Sidney  Dillon, 
to  take  his  crew  back  to  St.  Louis.  It  is  said,  and  probably 
no  one  will  arise  to  dispute  the  statement,  that  this  is  the 
only  instance  on  record  of  a  man  walking  from  the  pilot- 
house to  the  keel  of  a  vessel  without  even  getting  his  feet 
wet.     An  occurrence  so  startling  might  well  be  doubted, 

424 


Turned  Turtle 


but  there  are  a  score  of  men  to-day  living  in  St.  Louis 
and  elsewhere  who  were  eye-witnesses  to  it. 

The  captain  had  another  cyclone  experience,  though 
not  so  disastrous  a  one,  two  years  later,  in  the  great  storm 
which  devastated  St.  Louis  on  May  27th,  1896.  The  river 
front  as  well  as  the  city  suffered  a  great  deal  and  many 
steamboats  were  torn  loose  from  their  moorings  and 
wrecked.  Only  four  vessels  remained  at  the  levee  and 
one  of  them  was  the  Mississippi  River  Commission's  big 
stern-wheeler,  Mississippi,  Grant  Marsh,  master.  She 
sustained  no  damage  and  was  as  fit  for  service  immedi- 
ately after  the  storm  as  she  was  before  it. 


4S5 


CHAPTER  XLIX 

THE   GARDEN   OUT   OF  THE   WILDERNESS 

Plains  of  the  mighty,  virgin  West, 

Plains  in  cold,  sterile  beauty  dressed. 

Your  time  of  fruit  draws  near! 

Creatures  of  thicket,  vale  and  shore. 

Tribes  of  the  hills,  your  reign  is  o'er 

The  conquerer  is  here! 

The  magic  of  his  virile  powers 

Shall  change  your  desert  wastes  to  bowers. 

Your  nakedness  to  shade; 

Shall  stretch  broad,  rustling  ranks  of  com 

Along  your  stony  crests  forlorn. 

And  wheat-fields,  dappling  in  the  sun. 

Where  your  mad  autumn  fires  have  run. 

The  trails  your  bison  made 

Shall  grow  beneath  his  hurrying  feet 

To  highway  broad  and  village  street. 

Along  whose  grassy  sides  shall  sleep 

Meadows  and  orchards,  fruited  deep. 

AFTER  twenty  years'  absence  from  the  scenes  of 
t^L  his  eventful  earlier  years,  during  all  of  which 
time  he  could  not  forget  the  subtle  fascination 
of  the  Northwest,  the  thoughts  and  desires  of  Captain 
Marsh  began  to  turn  again  almost  irresistibly  to  the 
regions  of  the  upper  Missouri.  He  longed  to  look  once 
more  upon  the  vast  reaches  of  prairie  and  the  bald  bluffs 
sweeping  along  the  river,  to  feel  the  exhilaration  of  the 

426 


The  Garden  Out  oj  the  Wilderness 

keen,  pure  air  borne  down  from  the  remote  fastnesses  of 
Canada.  Nor  were  his  longings  impossible  of  gratifica- 
tion, for  the  energy  and  shrewdness  of  certain  business 
men  of  the  Northwest  had  been  building  up,  during  the 
years  immediately  preceding  1903,  a  new  and  prosperous 
river  commerce  on  the  waters  of  the  upper  Missouri, 
where,  seemingly,  it  had  long  before  died  out  for  all  time. 

/Vmong  these  business  men.  Gen.  W.  D.  Washburn, 
of  Minneapolis,  ex-United  States  senator  and  flour-mill 
king,  was  a  pioneer.  In  the  rich  agricultural  country 
bordering  the  Missouri  above  Bismarck,  he  saw  an  op- 
portunity for  the  development  of  a  promising  river  trade. 
There  he  purchased  an  immense  tract  of  land,  some 
115,000  acres,  and  built  a  railroad  through  it  to  a  point 
on  the  river  about  forty  miles  above  Bismarck.  The  town 
which  sprang  up  at  the  terminus  of  the  railroad  was  chris- 
tened Washburn  in  his  honor.  Near  it,  in  one  of  the 
numberless  veins  underlying  the  country,  he  opened  a 
coal  mine  which  soon  had  a  producing  and  shipping 
capacity  of  thirty  carloads  per  day.  On  the  river  he 
placed  some  small,  light-draught  steamboats  and  barges 
to  transport  lumber  and  merchandise  to  the  villages  and 
farms  up  river  and  to  bring  down  grain,  the  famous  North 
Dakota  wheat,  to  the  Washburn  elevators. 

As  soon  as  the  steamboat  line  was  started.  General 
Washburn  and  his  managers  in  North  Dakota  began 
importuning  Captain  Marsh  to  come  up  and  enter  their 
employ.  Under  the  combined  influence  of  their  per- 
suasions and  his  own  inclinations  he  soon  yielded  and 

427 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  summer  of  1903  found  him  once  more  treading  the 
deck  of  an  upper  river  steamer  and  breathing  with  the 
deHght  of  a  returned  wanderer  the  air  of  the  land  he  loves 
so  well.  In  the  spring  of  1904,  General  Washburn  sold 
out  his  railroad  and  also  his  two  steamboats  and  two 
barges,  to  the  Minneapolis,  St.  Paul  &  Sault  Ste.  Marie 
Railroad  Company.  The  latter  immediately  disposed  of 
the  floating  property  to  Capt.  Isaac  P.  Baker  of  Bismarck, 
who  forthwith  organized  the  Benton  Packet  Company. 
Under  his  management  the  fleet  has  been  increased  until 
to-day  it  embraces  five  steamboats,  six  barges  and  two 
ferry-boats,  the  steamers  being  the  Washbiirn,  the  Ex- 
pansion, the  Bismarck,  the  Weston,  the  Imelda,  and 
one  new  boat.  Even  they  are  scarcely  able  to  handle  the 
business  of  the  great  stretch  of  country  extending  from 
Bismarck  to  Williston,  thirty-seven  miles  below  Fort  Buford 
into  which  no  railroad  penetrates  save  at  Washburn. 

Captain  Marsh  has  at  different  times  commanded  all  the 
boats  of  the  Benton  Packet  Company,  but  in  the  early 
autumn  of  1905,  while  in  charge  of  the  Weston,  he  had  a 
steamboating  experience  at  Bismarck  which  was  unique 
even  in  his  varied  career.  One  day,  through  some  freak 
of  the  current,  a  sandbar  suddenly  began  forming  along 
the  eastern  bank  of  the  Missouri,  just  below  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  bridge.  As  is  always  the  case  on  the 
Big  Muddy,  the  bar  built  up  rapidly  and  almost  before 
its  presence  had  been  noticed,  it  had  attained  a  height 
of  eighteen  inches  above  the  surface  of  the  water  and  a 
length  of  200  feet  along  the  bank,  completely  choking 

428 


The  Garden  Out  of  the  Wilderness 


the  intake  pipe  of  the  Bismarck  water-works,  which 
entered  the  river  at  this  point.  Tlie  water  famine  thus 
produced  seriously  affected  not  only  the  city  but  also  the 
railroad,  which  depended  upon  the  same  source  for  the  sup- 
ply of  its  engines.  Vigorous  measures  to  reopen  the  in- 
take pipe  became  imperative. 

It  happened  that  Mr.  Nickerson,  a  constructing  engineer 
of  the  Northern  Pacific,  was  in  Bismarck  at  the  time,  in 
charge  of  a  large  force  of  men  who  were  remodeling  the 
railroad  bridge.  He  made  an  examination  of  the  bar  and 
then  went  to  Captain  Baker  and  asked  him  for  his  best 
captain  and  his  best  boat.  Captain  Baker  instantly  desig- 
nated Grant  Marsh  as  the  navigator  most  thoroughly 
qualified  for  any  difficult  work  to  be  done,  and  Mr. 
Nickerson  chartered  the  Weston  and  sent  for  Captain 
Marsh.     His  instructions  were  brief. 

"Captain,"  said  he,  "that  bar  has  got  to  be  cleared 
away  at  once  so  that  the  water-works  can  operate.  I 
think  you  can  do  it  with  your  boat.  Ask  for  what  you 
want,  spare  no  cost,  but  open  the  intake  pipe!" 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you,  Mr.  Nickerson,"  replied  the  Cap- 
tain, doubtfully,  "  I  never  tried  to  run  a  steamboat  through 
a  200-foot  sandbar  before,  but  I'll  do  my  best  if  you  will 
be  responsible  in  case  the  boat  is  damaged  or  lost." 

"I'll  take  the  responsibility  and  help  you  all  I  can, 
too,"  answered  the  engineer.  "You  can  do  it  and  it  must 
be  done." 

The  next  day  was  Sunday.  At  eleven  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  Captain  Marsh  backed  the  Weston  down  on 

429 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  head  of  the  bar,  close  in  by  the  main  bank,  with  her 
stern  wheel  resting  against  the  sand.  From  the  bow  cap- 
stans he  ran  two  long  hawsers  back  past  the  stern,  one 
on  either  side  of  the  boat,  and  fastened  the  end  of  each 
to  a  large  log,  or  "dead  man,"  buried  some  distance  out 
on  the  bar.  Then  he  started  the  wheel,  which,  as  it 
revolved,  dug  out  the  sand  and  pushed  it  toward  the  bow, 
while  the  capstans  slowly  wound  up  the  hawsers,  keeping 
them  taut  and  pulling  the  boat  back  as  the  wheel  cut  into 
the  bar.  No  current  from  the  river,  only  slack  water, 
followed  the  boat  into  the  pocket  she  was  making  and 
presently  the  sand  which  was  being  thrown  toward  the 
bow  began  to  settle  in  front  of  her,  leaving  her  isolated 
in  a  small  pool.  It  began  to  look  as  though  she  were 
going  to  imprison  herself  effectually  in  the  heart  of  the 
bar,  but  her  captain  kept  on  with  his  work  doggedly. 
Back  on  the  bluffs,  nearly  the  entire  population  of  Bis- 
marck had  assembled  to  watch  the  interesting  experi- 
ment, though  not  until  afterward  did  the  captain  know 
how  many  intent  observers  he  had  on  that  Sabbath  after- 
noon. Mr.  Nickerson  had  suspended  operations  on  the 
bridge  and  put  his  entire  force  to  work  carrying  coal  to 
the  Weston  to  keep  her  boilers  going. 

By  mid-afternoon  the  boat  had  eaten  half  way  through 
the  bar  and  it  became  evident  that,  unless  an  accident 
occurred,  her  effort  was  going  to  be  successful.  Fortu- 
nately all  went  well  and  at  half-past  nine  t^iat  night 
the  pounding  wheel  broke  through  the  last  ridge  of  sand, 
and  the  steamer  backed  triumphantly  out  into  the  main 

430 


The  Garden  Out  of  the  Wilderness 

channel.  Once  the  way  was  cleared,  the  river  current 
surged  into  the  passage  and  by  the  following  morning 
the  bar  had  entirely  disappeared,  the  intake  pipe  was 
clear  and  the  water  famine  ended.  Twelve  hours  after 
he  had  cut  it  through,  Captain  Marsh  ran  his  boat  down 
over  the  course  she  had  followed  on  Sunday  and,  by 
sounding,  found  not  less  than  eight  feet  of  water  at  any 
point.  The  undertaking  had  come  out  even  more  sat- 
isfactorily than  Mr.  Nickerson  had  hoped,  while  both  Cap- 
tain Marsh  and  Captain  Baker  were  gratified  at  its  result. 

On  first  reaching  Washburn  in  1903,  Captain  Marsh 
was  deeply  impressed  by  the  evidences  on  every  hand 
of  the  rapid  development  which  the  country  had  under- 
gone in  the  twenty-one  years  of  his  absence.  When  he 
had  left  it,  it  was  a  wilderness,  broken  only  at  wide  inter- 
vals by  a  struggling  hamlet  or  the  half-subdued  claim 
of  an  adventurous  farmer.  Now,  its  towns  were  many 
and  flourishing  and  its  rich  prairies  were  either  under 
the  plow  or  furnishing  pasturage  for  the  flocks  and  herds 
of  a  prosperous  people.  The  numerous  improvements 
which  he  found  in  steamboating  practice  were  also  sources 
of  surprise  to  him,  especially  when  he  reflected  upon  the 
crude  and  laborious  methods  of  earlier  years. 

The  Benton  Packet  Company  conducts  its  business  upon 
the  most  modern  principles.  When  a  load  of  lumber  is 
to  be  shipped  up  river  from  Washburn,  the  boat  which 
is  to  carr^'  it  drops  down  in  front  of  the  yard,  where  a  chute 
leading  from  the  railroad  to  the  river  in  a  few  moments 
transfers  a  carload  of  lumber  to  the  steamer's  deck.     In 

431 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


the  same  manner,  a  supply  of  native  coal  sufficient  for 
an  entire  trip,  the  same  coal  which  twenty-five  years  ago 
could  not  be  made  to  burn  by  any  means,  is  dumped  in  a 
moment  upon  the  deck  by  merely  raising  the  chute  door 
of  a  storage  bin  on  the  bank.  In  only  one  respect  did  the 
captain  see  a  chance  for  improvement  in  the  company's 
methods.  On  his  first  arrival  he  found  the  boats  carry- 
ing their  great  loads  of  wheat  down  to  the  elevators  in 
sacks.  A  great  deal  of  labor  was  wasted  in  sacking  and 
unsacking  the  grain  and  he  began  transporting  it  in  bulk 
on  a  barge.  His  improvement  was  at  once  adopted  by 
all  the  boats  and  now  when  a  cargo  arrives  before  the 
elevator,  a  marine  leg  is  lowered  into  it  which  sucks  up 
the  grain  at  the  rate  of  twelve  hundred  bushels  per  hour 
and  deposits  it  in  freight  cars,  ready  to  be  hurried  away  to 
the  markets  of  the  East. 

From  Captain  Baker's  central  office  in  Bismarck  there 
radiates  a  system  of  telephones  by  means  of  which  the 
movements  of  the  boats  can  be  directed  for  many  miles  up 
the  river.  The  Washburn  levee  is  equipped  with  a  line 
of  arc  lights  which  change  the  darkest  night  to  mid-day 
brilliancy  and  a  boat  arriving  during  any  hour  of  the 
twenty-four  suffers  not  a  moment's  delay  in  loading  and 
unloading.  Two  or  three  hours  are  sufficient  to  dis- 
charge a  cargo  of  grain,  and  two  or  three  more  to  take  on 
a  trip  of  lumber  and  merchandise,  so  that  a  steamer 
coming  in  at  midnight  can  clear  again  for  up-river  points 
before  break  of  dawn.  Near  the  levee  is  also  located  a 
machine-shop  for  the  repair  and  construction  of  boats 

432 


The  Garden  Out  of  the  Wilderness 

and  barges,  and  a  series  of  marine  ways  on  which,  when 
winter  comes,  the  boats  can  be  hauled  up  out  of  reach 
of  the  ice.  As  soon  as  the  ice  goes  out  in  the  spring  the 
steamers  are  ready  to  be  shpped  back  into  the  river  and 
set  to  work.  Probably  on  no  river  in  the  United  States 
is  the  business  of  steamboating  to-day  conducted  more 
efficiently  or  with  more  satisfactory  results  than  on  that 
section  of  the  Missouri  lying  between  Bismarck  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Yellowstone;  an  inland  waterway  long  ago 
abandoned  by  the  government  in  its  river  improvement 
work  because  it  is  alleged  to  be  "unnavigable." 

In  the  service  of  the  Benton  Packet  Company,  Captain 
Marsh  has  remained  ever  since  his  return  to  the  North- 
west, excepting  for  a  short  time  in  the  fall  of  1905,  when 
he  was  employed  by  the  Government  to  make  an  inspec- 
tion of  the  Yellowstone.  The  snag-boat  Mandan,  Cap- 
tain W.  H.  Gould,  was  placed  at  his  disposal,  and  he 
examined  the  channel  as  far  up  as  Glendive  to  learn 
whether  it  would  be  practicable  to  place  one  or  more 
steamers  in  the  river  for  the  purpose  of  transporting  build- 
ing materials  to  the  site  of  the  reclamation  dam  which 
the  government  was  projecting  about  twenty  miles  below 
Glendive.  He  foimd  the  river  in  good  condition  for  navi- 
gation and  the  following  spring  construction  work  was 
begun  on  the  dam,  the  object  of  which  is  to  furnish  water  by 
means  of  irrigation  ditches  to  a  vast  tract  of  partially  arid 
lands  in  the  vicinity.  Thousands  of  barrels  of  cement  are 
required  in  the  construction  of  the  work  which  is  to  render 
fertile  a  section  where,  in  former  years,  Captain  Marsh  was 

433 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


wont  to  encounter  the  Sioux  and  the  buffalo.  His  steamer, 
the  Expansion,  was  chartered  by  the  Government  in 
the  spring  of  1906  and  he  was  engaged  through  the  sum- 
mer in  carrying  cement  from  Glendive,  on  the  Northern 
Pacific,  to  the  site  of  the  dam,  which  is  almost  on  the 
dividing  line  between  North  Dakota  and  Montana,  and 
at  the  western  end  of  which  a  small  town  has  been  estab- 
lished, called  Mondak.  The  dam  was  then  but  just  begun 
and  was  not  completed  until  the  summer  of  1908.  Early 
in  the  fall,  after  he  had  brought  down  enough  building 
material  to  complete  the  season's  work  on  the  dam,  he 
took  his  steamer  down  to  Washburn  and  engaged  in  the 
transportation  of  the  wheat  crop  until  the  river  froze  over, 
about  the  middle  of  November. 

During  the  early  summer  of  1906,  the  death  of  the 
captain's  wife,  his  faithful  companion  for  forty-six  years, 
brought  to  him  a  sorrow  from  which  he  can  never  recover, 
though  he  has  not  allowed  it  to  embitter  him  toward 
the  world  nor  to  hold  him  back  while  strength  remains 
to  him  from  performing  the  duties  of  life.  His  youngest 
daughter,  Lillie,  a  beautiful  girl  hardly  past  twenty,  died 
several  years  before  her  mother,  whose  own  sad  end  was 
hastened  by  her  loss.  But  the  captain  still  has  two 
sons  and  two  daughters  living,  of  whom  both  sons  have 
worthily  followed  the  vocation  of  their  father,  while  one 
daughter,  Mrs.  Robert  Gaines,  is  the  wife  of  one  of  the 
most  expert  pilots  of  the  lower  Mississippi. 

Thus  draws  to  a  conclusion  the  story  of  the  more 
interesting  events  in    the  life  of  this  navigator  of  the  old- 

434 


The  Garden  Out  of  the  Wilderness 

time  steamboat  era.  At  the  age  of  seventy-four  he  is 
still  physically  and  mentally  unbroken,  his  eye  keen,  his 
hand  steady,  his  memory  so  accurate  that  hardly  one 
man  in  a  thousand  of  any  age  possesses  its  equal.  His 
recollection  of  the  early  steamboats  which  plied  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  is  phenomenal. 
If  there  chance  to  be  mentioned  in  his  presence  some  for- 
gotten vessel  which  ran  on  the  Ohio  in  1853,  he  will 
almost  certainly  be  able  to  detail,  without  a  moment's 
hesitation,  the  names,  including  initials,  of  her  captain, 
mate,  pilots,  engineers,  steward  and  barkeeper,  conclud- 
ing probably  with  accurate  information  concerning  her 
length  and  beam,  the  number  and  size  of  her  boilers  and 
the  color  of  her  smokestacks. 

Such  a  memory  can  belong  only  to  one  whose  life  has 
been  sane  and  temperate  throughout,  and  Captain  Marsh 
stands  to-day  a  perfect  example,  in  mental  and  physical 
preservation,  of  the  beneficient  results  of  a  vigorous,  open- 
air  existence,  such  as  Nature  designed  man  to  live.  Nor 
is  there  any  reason  for  supposing  that  he  may  not  have 
a  long  period  of  usefulness  yet  before  him,  for  a  number  of 
men  a  dozen  or  more  years  his  seniors  are  still  navigat- 
ing steamers  on  the  Mississippi  and  doing  it  in  a  manner 
which  cannot  be  rivaled  by  the  younger  generation.  His 
greatest  pride  has  always  been  in  professional  skill,  and 
during  his  sixty-three  years  on  the  rivers  of  the  West  no 
boat  under  his  command,  save  the  Little  Eagle  No.  2, 
has  ever  been  wrecked.  On  neither  the  Missouri  nor  the 
Yellowstone    has   he   ever   lost    one,   even    temporarilv. 

435 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


To-day,  with  public  sentiment  rapidly  erystalizing  in 
favor  of  deepening  the  channels  and  securing  the  banks  of 
the  nation's  inland  waterways,  sucH  a  career  may  well 
be  studied  by  those  men  who  would  withhold  a  share  in 
the  improvements  from  the  great  Missouri  on  the  ground 
that  it  is  only  "a  graveyard  for  steamboats."  Grant 
Marsh  never  found  it  so,  other  men  as  skillful  at  the  wheel 
would  not,  and,  sooner  or  later,  the  Missouri  will  have  to 
be  prepared  for  carrying  deeper  draught  vessels  and  made 
an  avenue  for  helping  to  relieve  the  freight  congestion  of 
a  territory  whose  railroad  facilities  cannot  keep  pace  with 
its  increasing  productiveness. 

But,  after  all,  the  greatest  accomplishment  of  Grant 
Marsh's  life  has  been  the  manner  in  which  he  has  lived 
it,  guiding  it  by  conscience,  sweetening  it  by  domestic 
happiness  and  mellowing  it  by  consideration  for  others. 
He  never  flinched  at  the  call  of  duty,  he  never  betrayed 
an  employer,  public  or  private,  he  never  withheld  help 
from  the  hand  of  need.  Had  he  been  in  the  habit  of 
giving  less  generously  of  his  substance  he  might  have 
laid  aside  more  material  wealth  for  his  later  years,  but 
he  might  have  had,  also,  in  forfeit,  less  peaceful  con- 
tentment of  soul.  To-day,  loved  by  his  family,  honored 
by  his  many  comrades,  distinguished  and  obscure,  of 
the  old,  valorous  days  of  Indian  warfare,  and  trusted 
by  his  associates  of  the  present,  he  has  little  to  regret  in 
his  works  accomplished  and  little  to  covet  in  the  years 
ahead,  for  the  greatest  rewards  of  life  are  already  his:  a 
calm  mind  and  a  clean  heart. 

436 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Annual  reports 
from  1866  to  1883,  especially  the  portions  embracing 
the  annual  reports  of  the  General  of  the  Army,  the 
Chief  of  Engineers,  and  accompanying  reports  of 
their  subordinate  officers. 

Official  Records  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
especially  the  portions  covering  the  campaigns  against 
the  Northwestern  Indians  from  1862  to  1865. 

Report  of  an  Expedition  up  the  Yellowstone  River, 
made  in  1875,  by  Lieut. -Col.  James  W.  Forsyth, 
U.  S.  A.,  and  Lieut.-Col.  F.  D.  Grant,  U.  S.  A. 
Washington:    Government  Printing  Office.     1875. 

Official  Army  Register. 

Historical  Register  and  Dictionary  of  the  United 
States  Army,  by  Francis  B.  Heitman.  Washing- 
ton: Government  Printing  Office. 

The  Army  of  the  United  States.  Edited  by  Gen. 
Theo.  F.  Rodenbough,  U.  S.  A.,  and  Maj.  William 
E.  Haskin,  U.  S.  A.  New  York:  Maynard,  Merrill 
&  Co.     1896. 

History  of  St.  Louis  City  and  County,  by  J.  Thomas 
Scharf.  Philadelphia:  Ivouis  H.  Everts  &  Co. 
1883. 

437 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Contributions  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Mon- 
tana. Published  annually  by  the  Historical  Society 
of  Montana. 

South  Dakota  Historical  Collections.  Published 
annually  by  the  South  Dakota  Historical  Society. 
Especially  Part  2,  Volume  II,  embracing  "A  History 
OF  the  Dakota  or  Sioux  Indians,"  by  Doane  Rob- 
inson. 

Life  on  the  Mississippi,  by  Mark  Twain  (Samuel  L. 
Clemens).     Boston:  James  R.  Osgood  &  Co.     1883. 

History  or  Early  Steamboat  Navigation  on  the 
Missouri  River,  by  Col.  Hiram  M.  Chittenden, 
U.  S.  A.     New  York:    T.  P.  Harper.     1903. 

Frontier  and  Indian  Life,  by  Joseph  Henry  Taylor. 
Published  by  the  author  at  Bismarck,  North  Da- 
kota.    1897. 

Kaleidoscopic  Lives,  by  Joseph  Henry  Taylor.  Pub- 
lished by  the  author  at  Washburn,  North  Dakota, 
1902. 

Indian  Fights  and  Fighters,  by  Cyrus  Townsend 
Brady.     New  York:  McClure,  Phillips  &  Co.    1904. 

Incidents  in  the  Life  of  Charles  W.  Batchelor, 
by  Charles  W.  Batchelor.  Pittsburg:  Jos.  Eich- 
baum    &  Co.     1887. 

Personal  Recollections  and  Observations,  by  Gen. 
Nelson  A.  Miles,  U.  S.  A.  Chicago:  The  Werner 
Co.     1896. 

438 


Bibliography 


The  Adventures  of  Buffalo  Bill,  by  Col.  William  F. 
Cody  (Buffalo  Bill).  New  York:  Harper  &  Bros. 
1904. 

Files  of  The  Journal  of  the  Military  Service  Institution. 

Files  of  The  Journal  of  the  United  States  Cavalry  Asso- 
ciation. 

Files  of  the  Yankton  (S.  Dak.)  Press  and  Dakotan. 

Files  of  the  St.  Louis  Republic. 

Files  of  the  St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat. 

Files  of  The  Waterways  Journal. 

Different  numbers  of  The  Century  Magazine. 

Various  general  histories  and  encyclopedias. 

Occasional  numbers  of  various  newspapers. 

MAPS 

(Distances  given  in  the  text  are  based  upon  these) 

Map  of  the  Missouri  River  from  its  Mouth  to  Three 
Forks,  Montana,  published  in  ninety-three  sheets 
by  the  Missouri  River  Commission,  1892-1893. 

The  Yellowstone  River  from  Ft.  Buford  to  Powder 
RrvER,  from  a  reconnoissance  made  in  July,  1873, 
by  Capt.  Wm.  Ludlow,  Corps  of  Engineers.  Dis- 
tances estimated  by  Captain  Grant  Marsh  and  Clerk 
Nicholas  Buesen,  of  the  steamer  Key  West. 

439 


The  Conquest  of  the  Missouri 


Sketch  of  the  Yellowstone  River  from  the  Mouth 
OF  Powder  River  to  the  Head  of  Navigation. 
To  accompany  a  report  of  Lieut.-Col.  J.  W.  For- 
syth, Military  Secretary  to  Lieut.-Gen.  P.  H.  Sheri- 
dan, U.  S.  A. 

Map  of  Mont^^sta,  1897;  Map  of  North  Dakota,  1892; 
Map  of  South  Dakota,  1901;  Map  of  Wyoming, 
1905.  All  issued  by  the  General  Land  Office,  De- 
partment of  the  Interior. 


440 


INDEX 


INDEX 


A.  B.  Chambers,  steamboat,  10-l!i 
A.  B.  Chambers,  No.  2,  steaui- 

boat,  23,  26,  29 
Adriatic,  steamboat,  11,  12 
Aleania,  steamboat,  21 
Alice,  steamboat,  13 
Allison,  E.  H.,  406,  407 
Alone,  steamboat,  53,  58,  59 
Alonzo  Child,  steamboat,  24,  25 
Altoona,  steamboat,  11 
American     Fur     Company     sells 

Fort  Pierre  to  Government,  49 
American  Horse,  the  younger,  361 
American  Horse  village  destroyed, 

348 
Andrew    S.    Bennett,    steamboat, 

397,  398 
Arapahoe  Indians,  361 
Arikaree  Indians,  154,  173,  211, 

265,  305 
Arkansas,    Confederate    ram    at 

Vicksburg,  47 
Attstralia,  steamboat,  11 

B 

Baby  Mine,  steamboat,  413 

Bacon,  Col.  J.  M.,  370 

Bad  Moccasin  races  witli   Capt. 

Marsh,  111 
Badger  State,  steamboat,  13 
Bailey,  Lieut.  H.  K.,  382 


Baker,  Maj.  E.  M.,  at  Fryer's 
Fork,  140.  218 

Baker,  Capt.  I.  P.,  428-432 

Baker,  Capt.  Stephen,  24,  266, 
275-278,  290;  relieved  from 
duty  on  Far  West,  302,  358 

Bannister,  Maj.  D.,  125-128 

Barr,  Capt.  John  C,  142,  143 

Bassett,  Mate,  17 

Batchelor,  Capt.  C.  W.,  388 

Batchelor,  S.  J.,  302 

Baxter,  Capt.,  38,  39 

Bear,  steamboat,  404 

Bear  Paw  Mountain,  battle  of, 
381 

Beauchamp,  Peter,  211 

Beauregard,  Gen.  P.  G.  T.,  at 
Corinth,  Miss.,  36,  38 

Beaver,  Capt.  N.,  424 

Beaver,  steamboat,    6,  8 

Beidler,  "X,"  noted  frontiers- 
man, 116-119 

Belknap,  W.  W.,  248 

Bell,  Pilot  James,  319 

Belle  of  Peoria,  steamboat,  59 

Belt,  Pilot  John,  141 

Ben  Bolt,  steamboat,  13 

Benteen,  Capt.  F.  W.,  joins  Reno, 
285,  380 

Benton,  Fort,  Mont.,  62;  impor- 
tance of,  in  1866,  64,  65;  ap- 
pearance of  in  1866,  72-79,  221 


443 


Index 


Benton   Packet    Company,    rapid 

growth    of,    428;     enterprising 

business  methods  of,  431-433 
Benton,  steamboat,   142,  352 
Berthold,  Fort,  Gen.  Sully  leaves 

garrison  at,  60,  65,  82,  154,  21 
Big  Horn  River,  battle  of,  182,  183 
Big  Road,  Chief,  288 
Bismarck,  steamboat,  28 
Bismarck  Tribune,  first  published 

account  of  Custer  fight  in,  310 
Bixby,  Capt.  Horace,  incidents  in 

life  of,  71;  on  upper  Missouri, 

71,  72 
Blackfoot  Indians,  362 
Black   Hills,    coveted   by   whites, 

360;    relinquished   by  Indians, 

361 
Black  Hills,  steamboat,  412 
Black  Moon,  Chief,  attacks  troops 

on  Pryor's  Fork,  146,  147,  218, 

288 
Blood  Indians,  398 
Bloody  Island,  13 
Bon  Accord,  steamboat,  12 
Borden,  Frank,  39 
Bostwick,    Scout   Henry,    reaches 

Far  West,  290 
Bouyer,  Scout  Mitch,  anecdote  of, 

250,  265 
Bowman,  Capt.  Geo.  W.,  8,  26, 

28 
Boynton,  Paul,  413,  414 
Bozeman  Road  into  Montana,  62; 

abandoned  by  Government,  64 
Braden,  Lieut.  Charles,  wounded 

on   Big  Horn,    182;    on   board 

Josephine,  184-188 


Bradley,  Lieut.  J.  H.,  243;  com- 
mands company  of  Crow  scouts 
under  Gibbon,  253;  quoted  258, 
259,  269 

Brant,  Capt.  M.,  160 

Brisbin,  Maj.  J.  S.,  225,  242,  249, 
259,  303,  308,  331 

Britton,  Capt.  Thomas,  197 

Britton,  Eng'r  Geo.,  197 

Brockmeyer,  Scout,  killed  at  Pow- 
der River,  324-330 

Brunette,  steamboat,  11 

Buell,  Gen.  D.  C,  reinforces  Grant 
at  Shiloh,  43-46 

Buell,  Maj.  G.  P.,  375 

Buesen,  Capt.  N.,  150,  161,  165, 
169 

Buford,  Fort,  65;  perils  in  estab- 
lishing, 82-84,  152,  155,  160, 
161,  163,  185,  186,  197,  221, 
241,  266,  305,  354,  358,  370, 
381,  385,  387-390,  395,  400, 
401,    405,    410,  428 

Burleigh,  Walter,  239,  300 

Burnett,  Capt.  L.  F.,  269,  271,  S3» 

Burnham's  Island,  28 


Caddie,  Serg.  M.  C,  conamands 
dismounted    troopers   on    Far- 
West,  302;    assists  in  burial  of 
Custer's   dead,  376;    his  state- 
ments   concerning     the     work, 
377-380;   describes  incident  of 
battle,  381 
Cahokia  Bend,  ice-gcrge  at,  14 
Calhoun,  Capt.  R.  S.,  93,  94 
Calhoun,  Lieut.  James,  248,  262 


444 


Index 


Calhoun,  Mrs.  James,  231 
Cameron,  Senator  J.  D.,  384 
Campbell,  Pilot  David,  239,  299, 

303,  327-329 
Card,  Maj.  B.  C.  370 
Carlin,  Col.  W.  P.,  152 
Carlin,  Lieut.  John  A.,  241 
Carnahan,  J.  M.,  307 
Carr,    Gen.    E.    A.,   anecdote  of, 

342 
Carroll,  steamboat,  323,  331,  347 
Cassidy,     Private,     brings     Gen. 

Miles    information   of   hostiles> 

358,  359;   removes  to  Yankton, 

359 
Chadron,  Frank,  416 
Challenge,  steamboat,  12 
Charlotte  Brinker,  steamboat,  421 
Cheyenne,  Northern,   Indians,   at 

Little  Big  Horn,  288,  361 
Cheyenne  River  Agency,  106 
Chicago  gains  Northwestern  trade, 

129 
Chippewa    Falls,    steamboat,    53^ 

58,  59 
Choctaw,  steamboat,  422 
Clara,  steamboat,  13 
Clark,  Capt.  William,  160,  216 
Clemens,     Samuel     L.      ("Mark 

Twain"),    saves    Capt.    Marsh 

in  ice  jam,  27-29;    quoted,  37 
Clifford,  Capt.  W.,  242 
Clifford,  Lord,  175 
Coal  on  upper  Missouri,  200 
Cody,  Col.  W.  F.  ("Buffalo  Bill"), 

meets     Terry's     column,     334; 

description    and    anealotes    of, 

341,  342;    scouts  on  Far  West, 


334-336;  leaves  front  on  Far 
West,  355 

"Comanche,"  Capt.  Keogh's 
hor.se,  found  on  battlefield  of 
Little  Big  Horn,  295;  cared  for 
on  Far  West  and  subsequent 
history,  296,  297 

Comfort,  Capt.  Dan,  140 

Comstock.  Maj.  C.  B.,  94 

Cook,  Lieut.  W.  W.,  278;  last 
despatch  to  Benteen,  287 

Cooke,  Fort  Camp,  65,  276 

Corinth,  Miss.,  36,  38;  Confeder- 
ates retreat  upon,  from  Shiloh, 
46 

Coulson,  Capt.  John,  136 

Coulson,  Capt.  Mart.,  136;  com. 
mands  Far  West,  139-142,  305, 
350 

Coulson,  Commodore  Sanford  B., 
136,  195,  237 

Coulson  Packet  Company  organ- 
ized, 136;    149,  184,  388 

Crazy  Horse,  Chief,  147,  229; 
defeats  Crook  on  Rosebud,  231, 
232,  288,  349,  364 

Cree  Indians,  398 

Crittenden,  Gen.  Thos.  L.,  di- 
vision at  Shiloh,.  45,  46 

Crittenden,  Lieut.  J.  J.,  killed  at 
Little  Big  Horn,  46 

Crook,  Gen.  Geo.,  228;  defeated 
on  Rosebud,  229,  252,  301,  316; 
pursues  hostiles,  348-365 

Crowell,  Capt.  W.  H.  H.,  197,  tQi 

Crow  Indians,  218,  219;  at  Fort 
Pease,  222-225,  266 

Crow  King,  Chief,  288,  410 


445 


Index 


Crow,  The  Chief,  causes  trouble 
at  Fort  Peck,  408-410 

Cul-de-Sac  Island,  Nile  leaves 
cargo  at,  107 

Curley,  Crow  scout,  brings  first 
news  of  Custer  fight  to  Far 
West,  274;  his  dramatic  story. 
275-279;  discussion  of  its  truth, 
279,  280,  308 

Custer,  Boston,  250;  marches 
with  7th  Cavalry,  264,  265; 
killed  at  Little  Big  Horn,  282 

Custer,  Capt.  T.  W.,  248,  262; 
killed  at  Little  Big  Horn, 
282 

Custer,  Fort,  established  375,  382, 
387,  392,  409 

Caster,  Gen.  Geo.  A.,  ordered  to 
Dakota,  147;  with  Yellowstone 
expedition  of  1873,  171;  in- 
vades Black  Hills,  191, 192,  233; 
description  of,  247,  248;  Terry's 
orders  to,  256,  257;  bids  fare- 
well to  Terry  and  Gibbon,  265; 
killed  at  Little  Big  Horn,  282; 
his  leisurely  marches  to  Little 
Big  Horn,  283,  284;  divides 
regiment  for  action,  284;  his 
squadron  annihilated,  285-287; 
burial  of  remains  of  himself  and 
men,  377-380 

Custer,  Mrs.  Geo.  A„  231,  240 

D 

Dark,    Private   John,    kills   game 

with  Galling  gun,  333,  357 
Daugherty,  Lieut.  W.  W.,   176 
Davis,  Flag  OflScer  Chas.  H.,  com- 


mands U.  S.  Mississippi  Flo- 
tilla, 47 

Davis,  Lieut.  T.  F.,  416 

Delancy,  Pilot  J.  C,  gallantry  at 
Memphis,  26 

Dewitt,  Eng'r  Chas.,  423 

Dewitt,  Maj.  F.  J.,  Ill 

De  Wolf,  Dr.,  killed  at  Little  Big 
Horn,  293 

Dickey,  Maj.  Chas.,  121 

Die  Vernon,  steamboat,  12 

Dietz,  Mate  Chas.,  150 

Doane,  Lieut.  G.  C,  conveys 
Reno's  wounded  to  Far  West, 
291,  292 

Donelson,  Fort,  36-39 

Dozier,  Capt.,  53 

Dull  Knife,  Chief,  village  de- 
stroyed, 349 

Durfee  and  Peck,  Indian  traders, 
129,  130,  136,  154 

E 
E.  H.  Durfee,  steamboat,  136, 323, 

341 
Eagle  Packet  Company,  421 
Echols,  Eng'r  Chas.,  186,  187 
Eclipse,  steamboat,  17,  411,  413 
Edmunds,  Gov.  Newton,  361 
Edwards,  Lieut.  C.  M.,  67 
Eighth  Infantry,  173,  185 
Eighth  Infantry,  Missouri  Volun- 
teers, 36,  38 
Eleventh  Infantry,  375,  399,  407 
Eleventh   Infantry,   Indiana   Vol- 
unteers, 36 
Elk  Horn  Prairie,  buffalo  block- 
ade at,  96-98 


446 


Index 


Ellis,  Fort,  222.  228,  229;  Gibbon 
advances  from,   229,  243,  300, 
358.  375,  387 
Evans,  Private  William,  319 
Expansion,  steamboat,  428,  434 


F.  X.  Avbrey,  steamboat,  8,  12 
F.  Y.  Batchelor,  steamboat,  Capt. 
Marsh  commands,  389-395 ;  lojj 
of,  in  1879,  quoted,  393,  394; 
makes  fastest  time  from  Bis- 
marck to  Ft.  Buford,  394,  395; 
makes  expedition  to  Mussel- 
shell River,  400-403;  winters 
near  Milk  River,  404,  405,  412 
Falls  City,  steamboat,  11,  12 
Far  West,  steamboat,  aground  in 
Big  Bend,  131;  races  with  Nellie 
Peck,  139-142,  172.  174,  214; 
description  of,  237-239;  varied 
usefulness  of,  243,  244;  coun- 
cil of  war  held  on,  252-260; 
issues  supplies  to  7th  Cavalry; 
261,  262;  ascends  Big  Horn  to 
mouth  of  Little  Big  Horn,  268; 
difficulties  encountered,  269- 
271 ;  passes  mouth  of  Little  Big 
Horn,  272;  returns,  273;  Cur- 
ley  brings  first  news  of  Custer 
fight  to,  274-278;  prepares  for 
wounded  from  Little  Big  Horn, 
290,  291;  their  reception  on 
board,  293;  ascends  Big  Horn 
with  Reno's  wounded,  299,  300; 
her  thrilling  run  to  Bismarck, 
301-307;  brings  first  news  to 
Ft.  Lincoln,   309-315;    returns 


to  Big  Horn,  317;  Terry  makes 
headquarters  on  board,  320; 
makes  trip  to  Powder  River, 
322-330;  carries  Miles  and 
"Buffalo  Bill"  on  .scout,  337- 
347;  remains  in  upper  Yellow- 
stone carrying  supplies,  353; 
carries  Indian  Peace  Commis- 
.sion  of  1876,  362;  sunk  in  Mul- 
lanphy  Bend,  366,  367,  381,  389 

Farragut,  Flag  Officer  David  G., 
commands  U.  S.  Gulf  Squadron, 
47 

Fast  Walker,  Indian,  defeats  Capt. 
Marsh  in  foot  race,  113,  114 

Federal  Arch,  steamboat,   11 

Fetterman,  Fort,  228 

Fifteenth  Infantry,  416 

Fifth  Cavalry,  reinforces  Crook, 
316,  317,  403 

Fifth  Infantry,  moves  to  Yellow- 
stone River,  316,  331,  372,  373, 
382,  403,  412.  413 

Fiftieth  Infantry, Wisconsin  Volun- 
teers, 82 

Fisk,  Capt.,  with  Sully  expedi- 
tion. 55 

Fletcher,  steamboat,  377 

Florence  Landing,  Neb.,  25 

Forest  Rose,  steamboat,  13 

Forsyth,  Gen.  Geo.  A.,  in  Yellow- 
stone expedition  of  1873,  150- 
170 

Forsyth.  Gen.  James  W.,  explores 
Yellowstone  River,  195-221 

Fort  Adams  Reach,  37 

Foulk,  Eng'r  Geo.,  239,  303,  328, 
389,  405,  408,  411 


447 


Index 


Fourteenth    Infantry,     Wisconsin 

Volunteers,  39 
Fourth  Cavalry,  349 
Fourth    Infantry,    United    States 

Volunteers,  82 
Fox,  Lieut.,  39 
Fox,  Serg.,  drowned  at  mouth  of 

Rosebud  River.  266 
Freeport,  Pa.,  6 
Frost,  R.  Graham,  175 


G.  W .  Sparhawk,  steamboat    IS 

Gage,  Fort,  424 

Gaines,  Mrs.  Robert,  434 

Gall,  Chief,  147.  288,  363,  408-410 

Galpin,  Maj.  Chas.  E.,  factor  at 

Ft.  Pierre,  125 
Galpin,  Mrs.  Chas.  E.,  125 
General  Grant,  steamboat,  53 
General  Terry,  steamboat,  401,  412 
George,  Private  Wm.,  305 
Gibbon,    Gen.    John,    228,    229; 
joins  Terry's  column,  242,  243, 
245,  253;  marches  for  Big  Horn, 
255;  taken  ill  on  Far  West,  269, 
271,  300;    retires  to  north  bank 
of  Yellowstone,  301,  302,  320; 
marches  for  Ft.  Ellis,  358,  365, 
378 
Gilmore,  causes  trouble  on  Luella, 

88-92 
Girard,  Frank,  249,  265,  308 
"Given,"  Lieut.  Daugherty's  deer- 
hound,  176,  178 
Grodfrey,  Gen.  Edward  S.,  quoted, 
250;    quoted,   260;    quoted  on 
movements  of  7th  Cavalry,  284; 


describes  run  of  the  Far  West, 
305;  describes  arrival  of  Far 
West  at  Ft.  Lincoln,  312;  quoted 
regarding  burial  of  Custer's 
dead,  379 

Gold  found  in  Montana,  61 

Golden,  Private,  380 

Gossamer,  steamboat,  12 

Gould,  Capt.  Wm.  H.,  412,  433 

Grand  River  Agency,  106,  126 

Grant,  Gen.  F.  D.,  197,  221 

Grant,  G«n.  U.  S.,  at  Shiloh, 
36-42;   his  self-control,  41,  248 

Grattan,  Lieut.  John  L.,  mas- 
sacred near  Ft.  Laramie,  49 

Greeley,  Gen.  A.  W.,  403 

Gresham,  Lieut.  John  C,  anec- 
dote of,  355-358 

Gros   Ventres   Indians,    154,    211 

Gunsalis,  Pilot  James,  22 

Gurley,  Lieut.  C.  F.,  account  of 
first  news  of  Custer  fight  at 
Ft.  Lincoln,  312,  313 

H 

Hale,  Fort,  126 

Hanson,  Maj.  Joseph  R.,  Indian 

agent,  108 
Hardy,  John,  239,  303 
Hargous,  Mrs.  C.  E.,  382 
Harmon,  Capt.  Wm.,  126 
Harney,     Gen.     W.     S.,     defeats 

Indians    at    Ash    Hollow,    49; 

establishes  Ft.  Pierre,   49,    126 
Harry    Brown,     steamboat,     421 
Hassendeubel,  Col.  F.,  46 
Hawkins,  Capt.  H.  S.,  174 
Hawley,  Fort,  65 


448 


Index 


Haydcn,    Col.,    surveys    Northern 

Paci6c,  U6 
Hazen,  Geu.  W.  B.,  anecdote  of, 

350;     disarms    Indians    at    Ft. 

Peck,  364 
Heintzelman,  Capt.  C.  S.,  373 
Helena    Independent,    account    of 

Custer  fight.  310 
Helena,  steamboat,  143 
Hell   Roaring   Rapids,    Josephine 

reaches,  218 
Hemphill,  Capt.  Sharp,  6 
Hesperian,  steamboat,  25 
Highland    Mary,    steamboat,    12 
Holabird,  Col.  S.  B.,  charters  Ida 

Stoclcdale,    95;     present   during 

Indian     engagement,     101-103 
Holden,  Mo.,  9 
Holland,  Capt.  J..  24 
Honzinger,  Dr.  and  Baliran,  mur- 
der of,  181 
Howell,  Capt.  C.  W.,  67 
Hudson,  E.  E.,  Ill 
Hump,  Chief,  at  Little  Big  Horn, 

288 
Hurlbut,  Gen.   S.   A.,  at   Shiloh, 

41 
Hutchison,  Capt.,  53 

I 

Ida  Reese  No.  2,  steamboat,  129 
Ida  Siockdale,  steamboat,  trip  to 
Fort  Benton  in  1867,  93-104; 
great  profits  of  trip,  93;  block- 
aded by  buffalo,  06-98;  attack- 
ed by  Indians,  101-103,  150 
Ilges,  Maj.  G.,  captures  Indians 
at  Ft.  Peck,  408-410 


Imelda,  steamboat,  428 

Indian  Peace  Commission  of  1876, 

3G0-3G2 
Indian    Wars,    1876-1877,    heavy 

losses  in,  374 
Isaac  Newton,  steamboat,  5,  G 
Isabella,  steamboat,  53 
Island  City,  steamboat,  53;   sunk 

near     mouth     of     Yellowstone 

River,  58 


J.  Donald  Cameron,  steamboat, 
wrecked,  369 

J.  S.  Pringle,  steamboat,  13 

Jack  Frost,  steamboat,  421 

Jackson,  Gen.  T.  J.,  254 

Jeanie  Deans,  steamboat,  12 

Jefferson  City,  Mo.,  8 

Jennie   Gilchrist,    steamboat,    421 

Jesse  K.  Bell,  headquarters  boat 
of  Gen.  Lew  Wallace  at  Shiloh, 
38 

John  J.  Roe,  steamboat,  at  Shiloh, 
36-47 

John  Warner,  steamboat,  at  Shiloh 
40.41 

Johnson,  Capt.  A.,  130,  389 

Johnson,  "Liver  Ealin',"  wood- 
hawk,  116-119 

Johnston,  Gen.  A.  S.,  38 

Jolly,  Capt.,  17 

Jomini,    Baron    de,    quoted,    419 

Joseph,  Chief,  381 

Josephine,  183,  213;  reaches  head 
of  navigation  on  Yellowstone, 
221.  237,  269,  305,  317,  331, 
353,  360,  412 


449 


Index 


K 

Kanipe,  Private,  380 

Kansas  City,  Mo.,  9 

Kate  Adams,  steamboat,  m 

Kate  Kearney,  steamboat,  129 

Kellogg,  Mark,  249,  S65;    killed 

at  Little  Big  Horn,  28-2,  308,  309 
Kelly,  Maj.  Luther  S.,   153-162; 

sketch  of,  163;    becomes  scout 

for  Gen.  Miles,  354 
Kendrick,  Lieut.  F.  M.  H.,  quoted, 

402,  404 

Keogh,  Capt.  M.  W.,  248,  377,  379 
Keogfe,  Fort,  382,  387,  388,  394, 

403,  408  409,  411-413 
Kercheval,  Capt.  F.  B.,  25 

Key  West,  136,  150,  151,  158-170, 
171-184,  190 

Killdeer  ISIountain,  or  Tahkaho- 
kuty,  battle  of,  55 

Kirtland,  Capt.  P.  S.,  left  in 
charge  of  camp  at  mouth  of 
Big  Horn,  269,  282 

Kislin<^bury,  Lieut.  F.  F.,  be- 
sieged at  Musselshell  River, 
399-403;  his  death  in  the 
Arctic,  404 

Kom,  Private  G.,  381 

Kountz,   Commodore  J.  B.,   149 


LaBarge,  Capt.  John,   140,    142, 

143 
Lamartine,  steamboat,  12 
Lamont,  Capt.  A.,  53 
Lamoure,  Judson,  109-113 
Laramie,  Fort,  treaty  with  Indians 

at,  49 


Larson,  Capt.  A.,  197 

Lawrence,  Capt.  J.,  124,  125 

Leavenworth,  Kans.,  20 

Leighton  &  Jordan,  post  traders, 
130,  388,  407-i09,  411 

Leighton,  Joseph,  experience  with 
cattle  thieves,  389-392 

Leni  Leoti,  steamboat,  67 

Lewis,  T.  T.,  421,  422 

Lexington,  Union  gunboat  at 
Shiioh,  42 

Lincoln,  Fort  Abraham,  estab- 
lished, 147;  garrisoned  by  7th 
Cavalry,  148,  191,  228;  expedi- 
tion of  1876  leaves,  233;  first 
news  of  Custer  fight  received 
at,  312-314,  364,  375,  385,  395 

Little  Big  Horn,  battle  of,  281-289 

Little  Big  Horn,  campaign  of, 
233-315;  battlefield  of,  visited 
by  Gen  Sherman,  376;  burial 
of  remains  on  field  of,  376-380 

Little  Eagle  No.  2,  steamboat,  421; 
turns  turtle,  423-425,  435 

Little  Horse,  Chief,  288 

Little  Missouri  River,  reached  by 
Gen.  Sully,  57 

Long,  Lieut.  O.  F.,  382,  383 

Lord,  Dr.  G.  E.,  killed  at  Little 
Big  Horn,  293 

LonuvUle,  steamboat,  12 

Lounsberry,  Col.  ra.  A.,  writes 
first  story  of  Custer  fight,  307- 
309 

Low  Dog,  Chief,  288 

Low,  Lieut.  W.  H.,  Jr.,  commands 
Gatling  guns  in  Little  Big  Horn 
campaign,  233,  269,  332 


450 


Index 


Luella,  steamboat,  13;  voyage  to 
Fort  Benton  in  1866,  69-99; 
pilot  house  armored,  71;  dis- 
mantles Ft.  Union,  77,  78; 
last  boat  to  St.  Louis  in  1866, 
80;  aground  at  mouth  of  Milk 
River,  81 

M 

Mackenzie,  Col.  R.  S.,  349 

MacNeil,  Clerk,  80 

Madison,  steamboat,  39 

Maguire,  Lieut.  E.,  387 

Malnorie,  trader,  at  Ft.  Berthold, 
212 

Man-Afraid-of-his-Horses,  Chief, 
361 

Mandan  Indians,  154,  211 

Mandan,    U.    S.   snag   boat,    433 

Manypenny,  Geo.  W.,  361 

MarceUa,  steamboat,  53-58 

Marion,  steamboat,  78,  79 

"Mark  Twain,"  in  ice-gorge  be- 
low St.  Louis,  27-29;  quoted 
from,  37 

Marsh,  Capt.  Grant  P.,  childhood, 
5;  begins  steamboating  on  Ohio 
River,  6,  7;  enters  Missouri 
River  trade,  8,  9;  in  St.  Louis 
ice-gorge,  10,  14;  adventure 
with  "Mark  Twain,"  27-29; 
courtship^|nd  marriage,  30-34; 
at  Shiloh,  35-47;  commands 
Luella  in  1866,  69-92;  hunts 
in  High  wood  Mountains,  79; 
trouble  with  Gilmore,  88-92; 
commands  Ida  Siockdale  in  1867, 
93-104 ;  saves  boat  from  Indian?, 

451 


101,  103;  incident  at  Crow 
Creek,  109,  110;  as  a  foot  racer, 
110-114;  rescues  .steamer  Tem- 
pest,  123-125;  takes  supplies 
to  Ft.  Buford,  125-128;  com- 
mands Silver  Lake,  130-135; 
with  Coulson  Packet  Co.,  136; 
commands  Nellie  Peck,  139-142; 
on  Yellowstone  expedition  of 
1873,  149-170;  moves  to  Yank- 
ton, 149;  commands  Josephine 
in    Yellowstone    expedition    of 

1875,  197-221 ;  takes  command 
of  Far  West,  239;  reaches  Pow- 
der River,  242;  opinion  of 
Custer's  action,  258;  recovers 
mail  lost  overboard  at  Rosebud, 
266,  267;  commands  Far  West 
on  ascent  of  Big  Horn  River, 
268;  interview  with  Curley, 
274-278;  makes  place  for  "Com- 
anche," 296;  interview  with 
Gen.  Terry,  298;  starts  down 
Big  Horn  River  with  wounded, 
290-299;  takes  Far  West  to 
Bismarck  ui  record-breaking 
time,  301-314;  praised  by 
Gen.  Terry,  315;  in  fight  at 
Powder  River,  325-330;  anec- 
dotes of,  by  "Buffalo  Bill,"  345; 
commended  by  Gen.  Miles,  347; 
leaves  front  and  returns  to 
Yankton,  360;  thanked  by 
Indian    Peace    Commission    of 

1876,  362;  rewards  for  duty 
performed,  365,  366;  takes 
command  of  Rosebud,  368,  369; 
carries    Gen    Sherman    to    Ft- 


Index 


Marsh,  Capt.  Grant  P. — continued 
Custer,  370-375;  adventure 
with  Miss  Sherman,  382-384; 
enters  employ  of  Leighton  & 
Jordan,  388;  remains  in  steam- 
boat business  after  its  decline, 
397;  operates  F.  Y.  Batchelor, 
389;  carries  supplies  to  Mussel- 
shell River,  399-403;  caught 
by  freeze-up,  404;  in  Indian 
disturbance  at  Ft.  Peck,  407, 
408;  frost-bitten,  410;  com- 
mands Eclipse,  411,  412;  buys 
W.  J.  Behan,  414;  conveys 
Sitting  Bull  and  followers  to 
Standing  Rock  Agency,  415- 
417;  returns  to  Mississippi 
River  trade,  420;  struck  by  a 
cyclone,  422-425;  returns  to 
upper  Missouri,  426,  427;  cuts 
out  a  sandbar,  428^30;  changes 
freight  carrying  methods,  432; 
loses  his  wife,  434;  remarkable 
memory,  435;  rewards  of  a 
useful  life,  436 

Marsh,  Capt.  John,  420 

Marsh,  Eng'r  Monroe,  on  Ida 
Stockdale,  103,  109,  197 

Marsh,  Grant  C,  420 

Marsh,  Miss  Lillie,  434 

Marsh,  Mrs.  Grant  P.,  30-34; 
presented  with  team  of  horses 
by  oflScers  of  5th  Infantry,  412, 
413;  her  death,  434. 

Mary  McDonald,  steamboat,  136 

Mason,  Capt.;  5 

Maynardier,  Lieut.  H.  E.,  216 

McArthur,  Gen.  A..,  324 


McClellan  drowned  at  Milk  River. 

81 
McDaniel,  Pilot  Rube,  70 
McDonald,  Maj.  John,  38 
McDougall,   Capt.  T.  M.,  com- 
mands Custer's  pack-train,  284 
McGinnis,  Col.  G.  F.,  36 
McKean,    Fort,    renamed    Fort 

Abraham  Lincoln,  147 
McVay,  Capt.  J.  C,  136 
Measuring  distances  on  Yellow- 
stone, 205,  206 
Merritt,  Gen.  Wesley,  reinforces 

Crook,  317 
Miles,  Gren.  Nelson  A.,  194;    re- 
inforces  Terry,   316,   323;    re- 
turns to  Yellowstone,  335 ;  scouts 
on  board  Far  West,  337-342; 
his  opinion  of  Capt.  Marsh,  338, 
339,    S53;    makes   remarkable 
winter     campaign,     363,     364; 
reinforces     Otis,     and    defeats 
Crazy  Horse  at  Wolf  Mountain, 
364;  gratitude  to  Capt.  Marsh, 
365,  369,  372;    charters  Rose- 
bud,  381;    defeats  Nez  Perces, 
381,  386,  394,  398 
Miles,  Mrs.  Nelson  A.,  369,  372 
Miller,  Capt.,  21 
Miller,  Steward  Lew,  197 
Mills,  Gen.  Anson,  230,  348 
Miner,    steamboat,    attacked    by 

Indians,  67 
Mississippi,  steamboat,  421,  425 
Missouri   Pacific   Railroad,   com- 
pleted, 8 
Missouri  River,  stages  of  water, 
54;    only  route  to  Montana  in 


452 


Index 


1866,  64;  traffic  on,  64,  65; 
fighting  on,  in  1866-1868,  66,  67; 
dangers  to  boats  on,  70,  71; 
wane  of  traffic  on  lower,  129 

Montana,  early  history  of,  61-79; 
vigilante  rule  in,  74-77 

Moore,  Maj.  O.  H.,  234,  241,  302; 
ordered  to  Rosebud  River,  318; 
commands  expedition  to  Pow- 
der River,  322-330;  gallantry 
at  Tebb's  Ferry,  Ky.,  324,  325, 
352,  358 

Morgan,  Gren.  John,  324 

Morgan,  Scout,  324;  in  fight  at 
Powder  River,  327-329 

Morton,  Trumpeter,  carries  last 
message  from  Custer,  286 

Moses  Greenwood,  steamboat,  19 

N 
Napoleon,  254 

Nebraska,  steamboat,  12,  17 
Nellie  Peck,  steamboat,  incidents 

with  Far  West,   130-135,   136; 

beaten  by  Far  West,   136-142, 

389 
Nelson,  Gen.  William,  division  at 

Shiloh,  45 
New  Orleans,  17,  26,  27 
New  York  Herald,  receives  first 

news  of  Custer  fight,  307,  308 
Nez  Perce  Indians,  381 
Nickerson,     Construction     Eng'r, 

429-431 
Nile,  steamboat,  trip  to  Fort  Ben- 
ton in  1868,  105;    winters  near 

Ft.  Randall,  107-114 
Ninth  Infantry,  173,  185 


Nomenclature  of  Yellowstone 
River,  164-166,  206,  207 

North  Alabama,  steamboat,  trip 
to  Ft.  Buford,  125,  128,  150, 
158 

Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  builds 
to  Bismarck,  Dak.,  136,  163, 
171,  179,  190;  builds  westward 
from  Bismarck,  385,  428,  434 

Nowlan,  Capt.  H.  G.,  376 

O 

Ogalalla  Indians,  fight  for  Boze- 

man  Road,  63,  64;  at  Little  Big 

Horn,  288,  361 
Ohio,  Army  of  the,  at  Shiloh,  43 
Ohio  River,  19 
Oldham,  Pilot  J.,  19-22 
Omaha,  Neb.,  24,  25 
Otis,   Col.   E.  S..  316,  323,  350; 

attacked  by  Sitting  Bull,  383, 

365 

P 

P.  H.  Kelly,  steamboat,  421 

Packard,  Capt.,  53 

Parthenia,  steamboat,  11 

Paul  Jones,  steamboat,  11,  12 

Pease,  F.  D.,  222 

Pease,  Fort,  defense  of,  222-225, 

268;    used   by  Terry's   troops, 

317 
Peck,   Fort,   117,   364,   388,   405; 

trouble   with   Indians   at,   407- 

410 
Peninah,  steamboat,  172,  174 
Perkuis,  Capt.,  39 
Phil  Keerney,  Fort,  63,  64,  147, 

230 


453 


Index 


Piegan  Indians,  398 
Pierre,  Fort,  established,  49 
Pinney,  U.  S.  Marshal,  G.  M.,  11 
Pilots,  anecdotes  of,  18-22 
Pittsburg  Landing,   Tenn.,  36-39 
Plummer,    Sheriff    Henry,    noted 

road  agent,  75,  387 
Poe,  Col.  O.  M.,  370 
Poker  game  on  eve  of  Little  Big 
Horn  campaign,  262,  263 ;  game 
for  Scout   Brockmeyer's  prop- 
erty, 329,  330 
Polar  Star,  steamboat,  13 
Polar  Wave,  steamboat,  421 
Pompey's  Pillar,  battle  of,  183 
Pompey's  Pillar,  Mont.,  Josephine 

reaches,  215-217 
Poore,  Jonathan,  30-34 
Poplar  River,  Agency,  388 
Porter,  Agent,  407 
Porter,  Dr.  H.  R.,  250;  his  thrill- 
ing   experience    at    Little    Big 
Horn,  293-295,  305,  328 
Post  Boy,  steamboat,  20 
Powder    River,    battle    of,    325- 

330 
Power's  Island,  27 
Pryor's  Fork,  battle  of,  146.  218 

R 

jR.  A.  Speed,  steamboat,  421 
Rain-in-the-Face,     murders     Dr. 

Honzinger  and   Baliran,   181 
Randall,  Fort,  52,  65,  82,  120 
Rankin,  Capt.  W.  G.,  establishes 

Ft.  Buford,  82,  96 
Rankin.  Mrs.  W.  G.,  attacked  by 

Indians,  83,  84 


Rawlins,  Gen.  John  A.,  courage 
at  Shiloh,  43,  44 

Raynolds,  Capt.  Wm.  F.,  216 

Rea,  Capt.,  53 

Read,  Capt.  O.  B.,  407,  408 

Recovery,  Fort,  107 

Red  Cloud,  attacks  forts  on  Boze- 
man  Road,  63,  64 ;  makes  treaty 
with  Government,  105,  106, 
147,  360,  361 

Reed,  Autie,  250,  265;  killed  at 
Little  Big  Horn,  282 

Reeder,  Capt.  Ambrose,  8 

Reeve,  Col.  I.  Van  D.,  96 

Reno,  Capt.  Alfred,  5 

Reno,  Fort,  63 

Reno,  Maj.  M.  A.,  conmiands 
reconnoissance,  245,  253,  282; 
attacks  Indian  village  and  re- 
treats, 285;  besieged.  287;  dis- 
cussion of  his  conduct  at  Little 
Big  Horn,  286,  317,  380,  395 

Revere,  Paul,  306 

RejTiolds,  Chas.  ("Lonesome 
Charlie"),  197,  205;  sketch  of, 
210-213,  216,  249;  illness  on 
eve  of  Little  Big  Horn  cam- 
paign, 263-265;  gallant  con- 
duct and  death  at  Little  Big 
Horn,  295,  308 

Reynolds,  Col.  J.  J.,  228 

Rice,  Capt.  Edmund,  340 

Rice,  Fort,  established,  54;  Gren. 
Sully  returns  to,  60,  65,  82; 
rats  at,  85,  126;  garrisoned  by 
7th  Cavalry,  148,  171,  173,  174, 
185 

Rider,  Capt.,  20,  21 


454 


Index 


Rocket,  steamboat,  44 

Rollins,  Pilot  John,  424 

Rollins.  Pilot,  W.  M.,  424 

Roman  Nose,  Chief,  232 

Rosebud,  battle  of,  232 

Rosebud,  steamboat,  carries  Gen. 
Sherman  to  Ft.  Custer,  3G9- 
375;   returns  to  Ft.  Keogh,  381 

Rosser,  Gen.  T.  L.,  175,  179 

Rxtbicon,  steamboat,  71 


Sackett,  Col.  D.  B.,  describes 
posts  on  upper  Missouri,  84,  85 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  in  1852.  7;  Asiatic 
cholera  in,  8;  great  ice-gorge 
of  1856  at,  10-15;  loses  North- 
western trade,  129 

St.  Paul,  steamboat,  12 

Sam  Cloon,  steamboat,  13 

Sam  Gaty,  steamboat,  53 

Sanger,  Capt.  L.  H.,  332,  340 

Sans  Arcs  Indians,  at  Little  Big 
Horn,  288,  362 

Schley,  Capt.  W.  S.,  404 

Second  Cavalry,  146,  225,  229, 
230,  331,  358,  403 

Sedalia,  Mo.,  9 

Seventeenth  Infantry,  173,  233, 
324,  332 

Seventeenth  Infantry,  Missouri 
Volunteers,  46,  47 

Seventh  Cavalry,  sent  to  Dakota, 
147,  149;  on  Yellowstone  ex- 
pedition of  1873,  173-188; 
leaves  Ft.  Lincoln,  233;  camps 
at  Powder  River,  245;  marches 
to  Rosebud  River,  255 ;  marches 

4 


for  Little  Big  Horn,  2G1-266; 
movements  before  and  during 
battle  of  Little  Big  Horn,  283- 
287;  losses,  288;  defective 
carbines  carried  by,  288;  awaits 
reinforcements,  301-302;  re- 
ceives remounbi,  317,  331,  355, 
371,  373,  375,  376-381,  409 

Seventh  Infantry,  229,  269,  324, 
331,  358 

Seward,  Wm.  H.,  185 

Shacklett,  Eng'r  John,  150 

Shaw,  Capt.  Abner,  172 

Shaw,  Fort,  387 

Shenandoah,  steamboat,  13 

Sheridan,  Col.  M.  V.,  376 

Sheridan,  Gen.  P.  H.,  sends  cav- 
alry regiment  to  Dakota,  147, 
149,  171,  191,  209,  221;  plans 
campaign  for  1876,  228,  237, 
248,  254,  311;  sends  reinforce- 
ments to  Terry,  316,  317 

Sherman,  Gren,  W.  T.,  goes  to  Ft. 
Custer  on  Rosebud,  370;  his 
reception  there  and  at  Ft.  Keogh 
372-375;     leaves   Rosebud,   375 

Sherman,  Miss  Lizzie,  369,  372; 
her  snake   adventure,   382-384 

Shiloh,  battle  of,  35-47 

Sibley,  Gen.  H.  H.,  campaign 
against  Sioux  in  1862,  51,  52, 
361 

Signals,  Indian,  203,  204 

Silver,  Capt.,  53 

Silver  Lake,  steamboat,  130-134, 
352 

Sims,  Capt.  W.  H.,  140,  401,  402 

Simmons,  Capt.,  36 

55 


Index 


Sioux  City,  steamboat,  136 

Sioux  Indians,  outbreak  in  1862^ 
50,  51;  forces  engaged  at  Tah- 
kahokuty,  55;  besiege  Ft.  Bu- 
ford,  82-84 ;  disaffection  among, 
in  1869,  144-146;  resist  pro- 
gress of  Northern  Pacific,  145- 
147;  chiefs  and  numbers  en- 
gaged at  Little  Big  Horn,  288 

Sitting  Bull,  at  Ft.  Buford,  83, 147; 
making  medicine  at  Little  Big 
Horn,  289,  351,  363,  382;  his 
large  following  after  1876,  385, 
386,  398,  405;  remains  out, 
406-410;  surrenders,  415;  con- 
veyed to  Standing  Rock  reser- 
vation, 416;  killed,  417;  his 
place  in  history,  418 

SLxth  Infantry,  152,  160,  173,  197, 
233,  302,  331,  355 

Slim  Buttes,  battle  of,  348 

Smith,  Capt.  E.  W.,  carries  de- 
spatches from  Terry,  303,  307, 
311,  312 

Smith,  Fort  C.  F.,  63 

Smith,  Hubbell  &  Hawley,  buy 
out  American  Fur  Company,  77 

Smith,  Lieut.  A.  E.,  killed  at  Little 
Big  Horn,  277 

Smith,  Maj.  Wm.,  185 

Smith,  Mrs.  A.  E.,  240 

Smith,  Scout,  324 

Snyder,  Capt.  S.,  273 

Sousley,  Capt.,  53 

Sparring,  described,  86,  87 

Spotted  Eagle,  Chief,  at  Little  Big 
Horn,  288 

Spotted  Tail,  3G0,  361 


Stanley,  Gen.  David  S.,  173,  174; 
commands  Yellowstone  expe- 
dition of  1873,  175-184 

Stanley,  Miss  Josephine,  184 

Stanley's  Shoals,  Mont.,  161 

Stanley's  Stockade,  174,  179,  180, 
183,  245,  305 

Steamboat  traffic,  decline  of,  on 
increase  of  railroads,  396,  397 

Stephen,  Father,  179 

Stevenson,  Fort,  65;  stock  herd 
stampeded  at,  99,  100;  hard- 
ships of  troops  at,  186,  306 

Strevell,  Judge,  391 

Stuart,  Private  B.  H.,  319 

Sturgeon,  Capt.,  17 

Sturgis,  Col.  S.  D.,  371 

Submarine,  No.  4,  steamboat,  11 

Sully,  Fort,  established  by  Gen- 
eral Sully,  52;  treaty  at,  63,  65, 
82,  126 


Taylor,  Muggins,  escapes  from 
Indians,  281;  his  news  ol 
Custer  fight,  282,  283;  starts 
for  Ft.  Ellis,  300;  erroneous 
claim  to  first  news  of  Custer 
fight,  309-311 

Tempest,  steamboat,  53;  stranded 
below    Fort    Benton,    123-125 

Tennessee,  Army  of  the,  at  Shiloh, 
43 

Tenth  Infantry,  at  Ft.  Stevenson, 
94 

Terry,  Gen.  Alfred  H ,  on  Ida 
Stockdale,  94-98,  228;  troops 
commanded   by,    in  1876,  233, 


456 


Index 


234;  reaches  Yellowstone.  242; 
description  of,  246,  247;  on 
Far  West,  252-260;  orders  to 
Custer,  256,  257,  269;  orders 
Far  West  to  ascend  Big  Horn, 
269;  marches  up  Tullock's 
Fork,  271;  relieves  Reno,  287; 
returns  to  Far  West,  297,  300; 
concentrates  forces  north  of 
Yellowstone,  302;  receives  de- 
spatches from  Crook,  320; 
marches  to  join  Crook  331-335 ; 
offers  to  relieve  Far  West  of 
military  duty,  343,  344;  pursues 
hostiles,  349,  350;  closes  cam- 
paign, 352,  358;  disarms  Indi- 
ans at  Standing  Rock  and  Chey- 
enne River  agencies,  364,  365, 
370,  373,  374,  401 

Thetis,  steamboat,  404 

Third  Cavalry,  230 

Thirteenth  Infantry,  82 

Thompson,  Lieut.  R.  E.,  197,  321 

Thompson,   Mate  Ben.,  239,  299 

Tigress,  Gen.  Grant's  despatch 
boat  at  Shiloh,  39-42 

Timber  on  the  Yellowstone,  161, 
162,  202,  203 

Todd,  Capt.  John,  136,  183 

Twentieth  Infantry,  233 

Twenty-second  Infantry,  estab- 
lishes Ft.  Steveason,  94,  121, 
173;  moves  to  Yellowstone 
River,  316,  331 

Two  Kettle  Indians,  362 

Two  Moons,  Chief,  288 

Tyler,  Union  gunboat  at  Shiloh, 
42 

4 


u 

Uncpapa  Indians,   at  Little  Big 

Horn,  288,  362 
United  States  Troops: — 
Cavalry  Regiments* 

2d,  146,  225,  229,  230,  331 
358,  403 

3d,  230 

4th,  349 

5th,  reinforces  Crook,  316, 
317,  403 

7th,  sent  to  Dakota,  147,  149; 
on  Yellowstone  expedition 
of  1873,  173-188;  leaves 
Ft.  Lincoln,  233;  camps  at 
Powder  River,  245;  marches 
to  Rosebud  River,  255; 
marches  for  Little  Big 
Horn,  261-266;  move- 
ments before  and  during 
battle  of  Little  Big  Horn, 
283-287;  lo.sses,  288;  de- 
fective carbines  carried  by, 
288;  awaits  reinforcements 

301,  302;  receives  re- 
mounts, 317,  331,  355,  371, 
373,  375,  376-381,  409 

Infantry  Regiments: 

5th,    moves    to    \''ellowstone 

River,  316,  331,  372,  373, 

382,  403,  412,  413 
6th,  152,  160,  173,  197,  233. 

302,  331,  355 
7th,  229,  269,  324.  331,  353 
8th,  173,  185 
9th,  173,  185 

10th,    at    Ft.    Stevenson,    94 
nth,  375,  399,  407 

57 


Index 


United  States  Troops: — 

Whistler,  Col.  J.  N.  G.,  351 

Infantry  Regiments: — continued 

White  Bull,  Chief,  288 

13th,  82 

White   Stone   Hill,   battle  of,   52 

15th,  416 

Wilcox,  E.  P.,  gallantry  at  Shiloh, 

17th,  173,  233,  324,  332 

44,45 

20th,  233 

Williams,  Dr.,  291 

22d,  establishes    Ft.    Steven- 

Willow Creek  Canon,   battle  of. 

son,  94,  121,  173,;    moves 

349 

to  Yellowstone  River,  316, 

Wilson,  Corporal,  121,  122 

331 

Wolf,  Capt.  Abe,  78 

Volunteer  Regiments: 

Wolf,  Capt.  John,  44 

Indiana,    11th    Infantry,    36 

Wolf    Mountain,    battle    of,    364 

Missouri,  8th  Infantry,  36,  38 

Wood  hawks  on  upper  Missouri, 

Missouri,   17th  Infantry,  46, 

115-120 

47 

WoodruflE,  Capt.  C.  A.,  324,  400 

United  States,  4th  Infantry, 

Wright,  Capt.  Robert,  412 

82 

W.  T.  Sherman,  steamboat,  369. 

Wisconsin,  14th  Infantry,  39 

371 

Wisconsin,  50th  Infantry,  82 

Y 

w 

Walker,  Lieut.  G.  B.,  323 
Wallace,   Gen.  Lew.,  at    Shiloh, 

36-42 
Warrensburg,  Mo.,  9 
Washburn,  Gen.  W.  D.,  427,  428 
Washburn,  steamboat,  428 
Webster,  Lieut.  John  McA.,  183 
Weir,  Capt.  T.  B.,  334 
Western,  steamboat,  136 
Westerner,  steamboat,  12 
Weston,  steamboat,  428-430 
Whetstone  Creek  Indian  Agency, 

116 
Whipple,  Bishop  H.  B.,  361 


Yankton,  S.  Dak.,  21;  7th  Cavalry 
at,  148;    Key   West  returns  to, 
170;    7th   Cavalry  leaves,   172; 
decline  of  steamboat  traflBc  at, 
397;     great    ice-gorge    at,    411 
Yanktonais,  Lower,  Indians,  362 
Yates,  Capt.  Geo.  W.,  248 
Yellowstone  River,  Sully's  arrival 
at,    57,    58;     Congress    appro- 
priates  money  for  post  upon, 
351;    rapid   settlement  of  val- 
.  ley  of,  387 

Yellowstone,  steamboat,  347,  350 
Yellow  hand,  Chief,  in  duel  with 
"  Buffalo  Bill,"  341,  342 


458 


51? 


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